


Train Hunters

by Infinity_Pain



Category: Infinity Train (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Parenting, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, YouTube
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:20:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 31,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27514489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infinity_Pain/pseuds/Infinity_Pain
Summary: Grace and Simon met on the train and became fast friends. However due to unforeseen circumstances they got seperated after only a few months together. Years later at age eighteen they meet again by chance and start a YouTube channel with the goal of proving the existence of the train.
Relationships: Grace Monroe & Grace Monroe's Mother (Infinity Train), Simon Laurent & Grace Monroe, Simon Laurent/Grace Monroe
Comments: 73
Kudos: 31





	1. Backstory

**Author's Note:**

> I just realized that this chapters jokes don’t make sense without knowing how they’re dressed so:
> 
> [For Grace](https://jacksope-lives.tumblr.com/post/634527883608621056/grace-monroe-train-hunter)
> 
> [For Simon](https://jacksope-lives.tumblr.com/post/634527955980271616/simon-laurent-train-hunter)

“Do you ever miss your parents Grace?” Simon asked her. Grace’s expression darkened at the question and she thought for a moment before giving her answer.

“No.” she said though it came out more like she was trying to convince him of something. Maybe she was. Maybe she was trying to convince herself. “Do you?”

“A little sometimes.” he said. Grace could tell that he meant it and she felt bad though she didn’t know if she felt bad for herself or for him.

“How did you end up on the train Simon?” Grace asked him.The two had been trudging through waist deep mud and at that question Simon stopped. Grace turned around to look at him and seeing it upset him she backed off. “You don’t have to answer.” she said. Simon did anyway.

“I lost a spelling bee. It was an easy word and I messed it up so I was really upset. When my mom picked me up I was still upset and I was complaining about it.” Simon took a pause after that and Grace wondered if that was the whole story. She wasn’t going to press him for more but he continued anyway. “Earlier she had seen a picture of dad with his new girlfriend in Florida. So she was already upset. And I was complaining and making her even more upset so when we were driving she just turned around and yelled at me. She said; Simon shut up! All you ever do is complain and that’s why your dad left, because you complain too much!” Grace felt awful about asking to hear the story.

“Simon I’m sorry.” she said. The two left the mud and walked out onto the bridge connecting the cars. They sat there for a while and Simon continued the story.

“The rest of the ride was silent and then she pulled into a gas station and went inside to go pay for the gas. And I saw this train. It was like an old coal train, the kind that my dad used to make models of. And I didn’t want to be in the car anymore, I wanted to see the train. So while she was inside getting gas I got out of the car and started walking towards the train. I just kept walking and I never looked back. That’s how I ended up on the train.” he said. Simon started crying at that moment and Grace wasn’t sure what to do. What happened after was a blur. The car shaking and splitting and sending them flying. Simon crying out for her and Grace being unable to reach him. And then he was gone. And Grace was all alone.

Simon had been her first friend, her only friend. They’d met on this train only a little after Grace had gotten on and all they’d had was each other. And now Simon was gone in an instant. She mindlessly walked forward into the next car. The best way Grace could think to describe it was a Hello Kitty fever dream. Everything was pink and soft and the inhabitants were talking stuffed animals. Grace didn’t even care; she walked in and fell to the ground, which happened to be made of bedding, in tears. Grace laid there and she cried because she’d just lost her only friend and now she was going to be alone forever. A giant stuffed rabbit approached her and spoke.

“Are you okay honey?” she asked in a southern accent. Grace looked up at the talking stuffed rabbit and cried more.

“I lost Simon.” she choked out in between sobs. The rabbit gave her a gentle pat on the head which was made particularly soothing thanks to how soft she was.

“Well, I don’t know who Simon is, but I do know that you’re both going to be okay.” Grace looked up and shook her head.

“No, he’s gonna get hurt and it’s my fault.” she said, still crying.

“It’s okay. I know it’s scary to be separated but that was what’s supposed to happen. And I assure you he will be fine.” the rabbit reassured in that soothing accent. 

“How do you know?” Grace asked as she began to wipe her tears.

“Everything on the train happens for a reason and that reason is to help everyone here. The train wanted the two of you to meet so it made you meet, and the train wanted you two to be separated so it separated you. Even right now, us talking, the train wanted that to happen too.” the rabbit explained. Grace distrusted this logic.

“When I met Simon he was in danger. If I didn’t save him he would have died.” Grace responded. The rabbit chuckled at this.

“Not at all. The train wouldn’t let a passenger die, if you hadn’t come along the train would have found a way to keep him safe. But it knew you would come along because that's what it wanted to happen. The train doesn't make mistakes, only passengers and denizens do.” The rabbit helped Grace up. “You can call me Molly by the way.” she said and Grace nodded.

“I have to go back and try to find him.” Grace responded. Molly shook her head at this.

“If the train wanted the two of you to stay together it would have kept you together. The goal of the train is to get you to become better but it can only do that if you play by its rules and take it’s signs to heart.” Molly explained. “So, you can walk right out that door and spend the rest of your life looking for this person, or you can move forward and let the train make you better.” she told Grace. 

Grace knew that she had a choice in this instance. Grace could go and try to find Simon, or she could follow this rabbit. Her and Simon had been all that each other had and Grace wasn’t sure that she believed in Molly’s way of thinking. But, Grace was scared, the train was big, and she had no idea if finding Simon again would be possible. The train had just given Grace a stark reminder of how quickly it could take things or people from you. It made Grace want to go home which she supposed was the point.

“I’ll stay with you.” Grace said and so she did. It was hard at first to let herself trust the train. Sometimes she thought about Simon and she’d want to go back for him but Molly’s words to her reminded her of why she was doing this. The two became close, like a family. Grace didn’t come from a family that was particularly loving, but she enjoyed it. Molly told her that even though it was scary, letting her number go down was a good thing. Grace over time embraced it. She’d get excited to see the numbers fall. One day the number had fallen to zero and Grace had gotten off the train. She’d cried and hugged Molly and promised she’d never forget her and Grace had gotten off. 

Grace didn’t remember much about right after she got off the train other than somehow she’d ended up in a police station. She remembered them asking her lots of questions and her not giving any answers. She’d seen movies, and she knew that if she talked about the train they’d think she was crazy. She imagined them putting her in a white straight jacket in a padded room with a two way mirror so people could stare at her like an animal in the zoo. So Grace pretended she couldn’t talk until her parents arrived. That’s how Grace found out that she’d been gone for almost a year. Doing the math Grace figured that she’d probably been with Simon for a few months.

Eventually things settled down. Grace was able to breath again and no one asked her anymore questions about what happened. She tried looking for Simon on the internet but couldn’t find any evidence of him or the train for that matter. When she started going to therapy the therapist that she told about the train told her she’d just imagined it. At first Grace denied it. After a year of hearing it repeated Grace agreed just to appease them. And now after seven years of being off the train Grace believed it wholeheartedly. Simon’s name and face all slipped from her mind. Grace laid across the couch scrolling on her phone and heard the steps of her mother enter the room. She braced herself.

“Grace, do you have any idea about what you’ll do for prom?” her mother tried to ask casually. Grace looked at her suspiciously.

“School just started back up again, prom isn’t for months.” Grace responded.

“Well it’s just that you didn’t go your junior year and me and your father would love to see you go this year.” she said, still trying not to sound pushy. That was never her mother's strong suit.

“I might go, I might not. Why is it so important to you?” she asked. Her mother cracked and the frustration that she had for her daughter bubbled to the surface.

“Because Grace, we would like you to have one nice, normal highschool experience.” she said. Grace hated when her mother got like this.

“Why are you so obsessed with me fitting your definition of normal high school experiences? I was literally kidnapped-” her mother cut her off.

“Don’t do that Grace, it’s been years you cannot keep using that excuse.” she said coldly.

“Excuse? I’m sorry I didn’t know my trauma had an expiration date!” She said louder than she meant to. Her mother's frustration was even more clear as she raised her voice in return.

“Don’t do that, don’t act like me and your father didn’t do everything we could do to help you, like we still don’t do everything we can. We sent you to therapy, we didn't force you to talk about what happened, we got you the help you wanted!” her mother yelled. “When you wanted to do solo therapy and then you wanted to try group and then back to solo and then back to group we switched you every time! When you wanted to be medicated and the doctors recommended it we did that even though we didn’t agree with it! We put up with your awful friends, we put up with you dressing like a Japanese import shop threw up on you, but we can only take so much Grace!” she yelled. 

“Oh like it was so hard to put up with me. I don’t do drugs or drink or smoke, I get good grades and stay out of trouble.To any other parent I’d be a great kid but because I dress a way you don’t like I’m making life difficult for you?” she asked sarcastically. Her mother turned away from her and took a deep breath.

“Here’s what’s going to happen. You are going to go to prom wearing a nice dress with a nice boy and we’ll take pictures and you’ll smile and have a great time. Then, you’ll go to the college we’ve picked out and get a degree. I’ve let you do whatever you want for far too long.” she said. Grace stared at her shocked.

“I’m eighteen, I’m legally an adult. You can’t make me do anything.” she said. Her mother nodded.

“We can’t but we can say that if you don’t you can become an adult right away and stop relying on us for money.” her mother explained. “You can take out a student loan to go to college or else live on the streets because you won’t be allowed to stay here unless you start behaving like a proper Monroe.” A timer went off on Grace’s phone. “You should hurry, you’re going to be late for group.” she added before walking off. Grace grabbed her phone and purse and drove in silence up to her group therapy session.

She knew that her mother was bluffing. Her parents had treated her badly before but neither was that cruel. Still, the fact that her mother was so willing to threaten her with homelessness unless she acted the way that she wanted her too made Grace sick to her stomach. She parked her car and sat there for a moment. Group wouldn’t start for another fifteen minutes and the idea of going inside and having to make small talk wasn’t appealing to her. She watched as all the familiar faces walked inside the building. There was one she didn’t recognize however. 

Rather than going inside he leaned against the wall...smoking? He was standing right next to a no smoking sign too. Grace rolled her eyes and decided to tell the guy to piss off.

“Hey, you can’t smoke here.” she said as she got out of the car and walked over towards him. He looked at her and stared for a moment.

“It’s fake calm down.” he said, handing her the thing. It was indeed a fake cigarette.

“Why?” she asked utterly dumbfounded.

“For the aesthetic.” He responded. “Why do you dress like the sparkly pens they used to sell at book fairs?” he asked. She could tell it wasn’t an insult but more of a joke. Usually Grace didn’t take people who weren’t good friends teasing her very well but for some reason she gave this guy a pass. Maybe she was just struck by how blonde he was. For a long time the only other person she’d known with hair that blonde was that kid she’d met on the train. Or it would probably be more accurate to say that she thought she knew that kid. In actuality, like the train he had never existed. But how blonde he’d been stuck with her and this guy reminded Grace of that. 

“At least I’m not dressed like a goth who gave up halfway through.” she shot back equally playfully. The guy clutched his heart in mock pain.

“How will I ever recover from getting roasted by Lisa Frank?” he joked. “You here for group therapy too?” he asked. Grace nodded.

“It’s nice to see a new face around here. Why’d you want to join?” Grace questioned. The guy shrugged.

“Figured I wasn’t doing anything else.” he responded. “The name’s Simon by the way.” he said.

“Grace.” she responded. Simon nodded at this. “So, exactly what brand of trauma are you here to work out?” she asked semi-serious. Simon smirked.

“You’ll have to wait until we go inside to find out.” he said with a wink. Grace laughed.

“You’ll have to excuse me for not being on the edge of my seat. If I had to guess, you’re scared of growing up just like every other highschool senior so you dress like a vampire who’s trying to not get noticed while still perfectly conveying that they are a vampire.” she said taking a jab.

“How’d you know I was a senior?” he asked. “Or does dressing like a first year graphic design students project give you ESP?” he asked jabing right back.

“Your ID is hooked to your belt.” she said. The two began walking into the building now. “I do have ESP though and it’s telling me that you’ve totally got a crush on me.” she wanted to see what he’d say to that.

“I’d say it's got a pretty solid reading then.” he said. Grace was a bit surprised by that but honestly a little amused that he didn’t bother to deny it. The session was actually pretty good. According to him he ran away from home years ago and had returned to find that his parents lives were in disarray. He did his best not to make trouble for them over the years his anxiety had worsened and a friend had recommended therapy. After the session was over they’d exchanged numbers though Grace was clear that she wasn’t going out with him.

“I like you, but I’m not trying to get in a relationship right now.” she’d said.

“That’s fine, honestly it’s just nice to talk to you, I find you intriguing despite your fashion choices.” he’d said. Grace had chuckled at this.

“I could say the same for you.”


	2. Recap

Grace hadn’t talked to her mom since the conversation they’d had on Sunday. It was now Wednesday and either through coincidence or luck the two hadn’t exchanged any words to each other. Grace knew that this luck wouldn’t persist forever however. One of these days she’d be alone in a room with her mother again and her mother was going to bring up prom, or what college she was going to, and there would be no escape. Grace couldn’t help replaying that conversation in her head constantly.

Just when she started to gain some confidence, just when she started to push back against her mother's standards for her, all she’d had to do was give her that look and Grace was ten again. It was beyond frustrating to never be able to have the upper hand, to constantly have your life controlled, to have her mother downplay what she went through and push her into a mold she didn’t fit because it was more comfortable for her. It was even more frustrating that Grace let her do it. She slammed her locker louder than she meant to and multiple people turned to stare at her.

Grace put her head down and walked away but she wasn’t exactly someone who blended in and that was on purpose. Most of the time Grace enjoyed being a bit more outlandish with her bright clothing and whatnot but at that moment Grace really wished she was dressed in a black hoodie so she could hide her face and distract from her own existence. This day was frustrating, her mother was frustrating. As she walked to the cafeteria her phone buzzed in her purse and she retrieved it to see what it was. A text from Simon was the answer evidently.

“booooored” the text read. Attached was a photo of him in class. Grace chuckled at this and responded.

“Pay attention, you’re going to get your phone taken away.” she texted. The response came immediately.

“she’ll never catch me” was the response. “and also i cant believe you use punctuation over text your such a nerd” Grace sat down at the table where her friends were but rather than engage in conversation she continued texting.

“*You’re” was what she sent in response.

“Im sorry, you’re such a nerd. better?” he asked. The two went back and forth like this for a while. Grace was so distracted by the conversation that she didn’t even hear what was being said to her. Delila snapped her fingers in Grace’s face which got her attention.

“Did you even hear what we asked you?” she said. Grace shook her head.

“No, sorry can you repeat it?” she responded. Delila let out a sigh.

“We asked who you were texting.” she repeated.

“A guy I met in therapy.” Grace responded. Taylor laughed and made a comment.

“I’m warning you right now Grace,my mom slept with her therapist and as an observer to that trainwreck, don’t do it, it never ends well.” he said. Grace rolled her eyes.

“He’s in my group.” she added for clarity.

“Is he cute?” Delilah asked.

“Not really, he dresses like a vampire, but he’s kind of endearing.” she explained. Grace went back to texting and continued doing so throughout lunch. She went about the rest of her school day as normal which was to say uneventfully but despite this Grace’s dread increased with every passing second. She under no circumstances wanted to go back to her home.The idea of having to have another conversation with her mother made Grace feel physically ill. The bell rang and Grace left out to her car. She climbed in and buckled her seatbelt but rather than drive anywhere Grace simply sat there. She knew that she couldn’t stay here forever but she did not want to risk an interaction with her mother.

Fishing her phone out of her purse Grace shot a text message. “What are you doing right now?” she asked. A nervous pit formed in her stomach as she watched the three little gray dots dance across the corner of her screen before a message was sent.

“right now? nothing” was the response from Simon. Grace took a deep breath. She didn’t know why she enjoyed Simon’s company as much as she did but she did enjoy his company quite a bit. And at this point she’d rather drink a cup of nails than enter the atmosphere of her house where the tension was so thick any attempt to cut it would have just resulted in a broken knife.

“Let’s go to the mall or something.” she said.

“Cool :)” was the response that she got. Grace let out a sigh of relief though she didn’t know why she’d been nervous in the first place. The two went back and forth a bit more before they met up at the mall.

“I see that dressing like a crayon box wasn’t a one time thing.” Simon said instead of greeting her. Grace rolled her eyes and the two walked inside.

“And I see that dressing like a vampire will be a consistent theme for you as well.” she responded. Simon chuckled.

“If I remember correctly you asked me out on a date, which proves that the aesthetic is working.” he offered.

“Nice try, but this isn’t a date therefore you’ve proved nothing.” she responded. He gave her a cocky smile in return.

“This isn’t a date, yet.” he added and she didn’t bother to correct him. The two wandered around a while longer before making a stop at the food court. As they sat down with their Panda Express, which Grace’s mother would absolutely kill her for eating if she ever found out, she brought something up.

“Hey, so your last name is Laurent right?” she asked. Simon nodded.

“Yeah, I see your ESP is still going strong.” he said. Grace laughed.

“I was just wondering because I found your YouTube channel and-” The color drained from Simon’s face which was quite impressive considering he was pretty pale to begin with.

“No, please don’t watch any of those videos.” he begged. Grace shook her head and gave a fake sympathetic look.

“I would love to not do that but I kind of watched them all already.” she said. Simon looked like he was dying inside. “So, you debunk conspiracy theories? Based on the way you dress I would have thought you’d be making them.” she said. Simon shook his head.

“No way. I like things to make sense. I have ever since I was a kid.” he added.

“You said you ran away as a kid right? Is it weird of me to ask about that?” she questioned. Simon waved her off.

“Nope, I volunteered the information, it's fine. It all started really stupidly too, it was because of a spelling bee…” Simon recounted the story and Grace stared at him frozen in shock. She knew this story, she’d heard it before. The ending he gave was different, rather than boarding a train he wandered off into the woods, but she knew this story. It hit Grace that the name of the kid who she’d imagined along with the train had been Simon. It had been so long since she’d thought about it but that had definitely been his name. Grace’s mind raced a mile a minute as she struggled to remember what that kid had looked like but she was left with only that incredibly blond hair. The same color as Simon’s.

“You were ten.” Grace said matter of factly. “You were ten when this happened.” Simon nodded and then froze.

“Wait, how did you-” Grace answered him before he could finish.

“When I was ten I disappeared for a year and I met a boy…” Grace trailed off. If she really was just making random connections she hadn’t said anything too crazy sounding, he could still back out of this think she’d just zoned out or something. She saw his plastic fork fall from his hand as he too connected dots in his head.

“This...you..” Simon seemed to be struggling to process what he was learning. He took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m going to say a random word, and at the same time you're going to say a random word. And if we just so happen to say the same random word then I’m going to panic, and if not then we can write this off as just a weird moment.” Grace nodded and the two waited a beat before both saying a word.

“Train.” the both said at the same time. Simon looked like he was going to faint.

“Okay, this is fine, this is fine.” he said as if he was trying to convince himself. Grace extended a hand out to him.

“Do you want to go have this conversation somewhere else?” she asked. Simon nodded and the two walked off to a less populated section of the mall. The two walked in relative silence before Simon spoke again.

“Okay, so to recap, you are real, the magic hell train I thought I dreamed was real, denizens are real, and reality is fake.” he said. Grace nodded.

“Yeah, pretty much.” she responded. Simon looked at her dumbfounded.

“How are you so calm about this? Everything you thought you knew was a lie!” he said, panicked though it seemed more like he was talking to himself then to her.

“I’m calm because yeah, we’ve discovered that there’s a magic train that kidnaps children, but also, we found each other and we both have the knowledge that the thing exists. That’s probably better than most people get.” she explained. Simon continued having a minor breakdown in spite of her inspiring words.

“Everything I’ve believed all my life is false. I’m going to walk into the ocean.” he said in a monotone voice. It was clear that the train having been a reality was breaking his mind. Grace tried another approach.

“Okay, please don’t walk into the ocean. Try thinking about it like this, yeah the things you thought were true weren’t but now you have the truth. And as two people who have the truth don’t you think it’s our responsibility to tell people? I mean that train could still be out there kidnapping people, shouldn’t we try to do something?” Finally, Simon calmed down.

“Yeah, yeah your right. We have to do something about this.” he said, determined. “I have no idea what but definitely something.” Grace thought for a moment before the perfect idea hit her. If the train was real and was really kidnapping people, especially children, they’d need to get the word out about it. But first, they’d need to prove it existed at all.

“How do you feel about repurposing your channel?”


	3. Setup

Grace and Simon sat outside at a small restaurant near the center of Grace’s town. Simon had seemed mostly okay after their talk at the mall but after leaving Grace hadn’t heard from him for several days. The thing that made her worry was that he wasn’t at therapy. After he’d failed to show up Grace had decided to take matters into her own hands. She’d already texted him a few times with no response but at that point she’d explained that she was worried about him and that if he didn’t give her an indication that he was okay she’d have to track him down.

Finally he’d responded saying that he was fine and Grace was very thankful for that considering the fact that she was bluffing and had no real way to find him if something had gone wrong. Simon had explained that he’d gotten really sick and so hadn’t been anywhere including the group, and had mostly stayed off of his phone. Grace knew it was a lie but she didn’t really want to push him to talk about it. So instead she’d asked if he wanted to go get some food with her and now here they were. 

Neither of them had said anything to each other yet and Grace wasn’t sure where to start. Simon didn’t look sick and by that she meant he looked his normal shade of pale. But he definitely didn’t look okay. He looked very tired, like, “hasn’t slept in days and is running on fumes” tired. She’d mistaken the bags under his eyes for makeup when she’d seen him and though that would have made sense she’d concluded that they were tiredness induced. The waitress came around and asked for their drink orders.

“Pink lemonade for me.” Grace had responded. Both Grace and the waitress looked at Simon expectantly. He stared at them for a time that was far longer than necessary as his brain seemed to lag behind the rest of the world.

“Water.” he finally said and the woman wrote it down and walked away. Grace gave Simon a long look as he propped himself up on the menu and seemed to be struggling to stay even the tiniest bit conscious. Grace figured that now was probably a good time to try and ask him about what the hell happened to him over the course of the last week.

“So...how have you been since the mall?” she asked awkwardly. Simon gave her a look like he was trying to simultaneously figure out both if she was joking and if she was real. Finally he gave an answer.

“How have I been since I found out that the basic laws of science and reality are fake? Not great thanks for asking.” Simon put his head on the table and started to close his eyes. Grace tapped him on the shoulder and he jolted awake.

“Yeah, I can tell. When was the last time you slept?” she asked. Simon started counting on his fingers with great difficulty, most likely because he kept forgetting which number he was at.

“Eight days ago,” he said finally. Grace was awestruck both by the largeness of the number and the flippancy with which he said it.

“How are you even alive?” she asked, completely caught off guard. Simon did the best approximation of a shrug he could do without moving his arms too much.

“I definitely don’t feel alive.” he responded. The waitress returned with their drinks and took lunch orders. Once she left Grace returned to her line of questioning.

“How is it even possible to stay awake that long? And why would you want to?” she asked. Simon gave his response as he struggled for a minute to remove the plastic straw from its wrapping and then proceeded to swirl it around in the glass of water not actually taking a sip.

“A lot of Monster energy and coffee actually. And I’ve been staying awake because I’ve got to figure out what the hell is going on with the train. I’m so close to putting the pieces together I just-” Simon’s thought was cut off by a long yawn after which he didn’t remember what he’d been talking about.

“It clearly isn’t good for you. You need to sleep.” Grace said with a frown. Simon shook his head in response.

“No, I just need more caffeine.” he said before taking the glass of water and dumping it onto the ground. Grace stared at him as he did this almost robotically and she felt very good about the fact that she’d gotten them a table outside because something told her he would have done this either way. Simon dug in his bag before retrieving a can of the aforementioned energy drink and pouring most of it in the cup and finishing off the can himself. Grace didn’t know whether to be horrified or impressed by his preparedness. 

“I- I don’t even know where to begin.” Grace said as she watched him chug what he’d poured into the cup before grabbing another can and repeating the process. Simon didn’t seem at all phased by the concerned looks from the other patrons or from Grace’s utter embarrassment and horror. He changed the subject completely in fact.

“What’s the difference between pink lemonade and regular lemonade besides the color?” he asked. Grace, who was thrown off by the sudden change in topic, took a moment to answer.

“I think pink lemonade is sweeter, but I don’t know. What’s the difference between Monster and Red Bull?” she asked. Simon laughed but in a way that was more forced and concerning than genuinely humorous.

“There is such a big difference.” he said though it came out more distressed than he likely meant. The waitress brought out their food and Simon practically unhinged his jaw to get as much of the burger in his mouth at one time as he possibly could. Grace didn’t even touch her food as she just watched the horrific and mesmerizing display. “I also haven’t eaten in a while because eating slows down caffeine getting into your bloodstream and I need to stay awake.” he added. Grace nodded slowly and then responded.

“Okay, we need to get you to sleep.” she said seriously. Simon shook his head again.

“No, I can’t I’m really close to figuring out the train and if I go to sleep I’ll forget everything that I need to remember about it.” he said before rapidly changing the subject. “You know, for someone who is not dating me you ask me out a lot.” he said before chugging back another glass full of Monster. Grace rolled her eyes and sipped at her pink lemonade before giving a response.

“It’s called being friends you dork. And to prove that it’s just being friends you can pay for your own meal.” she responded teasingly. Simon looked like he wanted to have some flirtatious banter to respond to that comment with but despite the constant gulps of energy drink that he was slamming back his brain refused to cooperate with the rest of his body. He really did need to sleep and Grace decided to bargain with him before that caffeine kicked in and he started vibrating. “It’s okay for you to go to sleep by the way, we’ll figure out the train together on your channel, so you don’t need to stay up all night trying to do it on your own.” she explained. Simon looked sceptical.

“I really need to know how the train works, I have to figure it out on my own.” he responded. Grace considered a different angle to go about convincing him.

“Well, that’s too bad because I had a really good idea on how we could figure out more about the train.” she said. That seemed to be the right decision as Simon’s interest was peaked as he waited for a further explanation. “I was thinking that the best way to find out more about the train is to find it. We could study where we were picked up, track patterns, schedules, stuff like that to try and locate the thing.” Simon seemed very invested in the idea and did his best to respond.

“That’s a great idea, we should do that!” he said probably louder than was intended. Grace couldn’t begrudge him as he was so out of it that she was surprised he hadn’t collapsed upon entry to the restaurant. Grace gave him a subtle look to indicate that he was being too loud and then gave a response.

“Well, we can only do that idea if you go to sleep.” Grace responded. Simon stared at her intensely, like he was trying to figure out if her reasoning made sense. Grace knew that anyone who was paying attention would know that it didn’t but she also knew Simon was way too tired to notice that fact.

“Okay, I’ll go home and go to sleep.” he said. Grace nodded and called the waitress over for the bill. She paid and Simon gave her a tired smirk before making a comment. “You paid, so I guess this counts as a date after all.” Grace rolled her eyes and made a playful comment.

“Shut up, you’re not even going to remember having this conversation.” she said before they walked out into the parking lot. Grace had walked here and she assumed that Simon had been given a ride. She was far more disturbed when he started walking towards a car, keys in hand. “You drove here?” she asked shocked. Simon blinked slowly and nodded. Grace put her head in her hands. “Give me the keys.” she said and Simon did as she asked. She climbed into the driver's seat of the beat up old truck that she figured belonged to one of his parents and was about to ask Simon his address but when she turned to look at him he was already asleep. Grace sighed and headed towards her house. 

Neither of her parents would be home for the rest of the day and her parents hired and fired people so often and willingly that the staff had learned to keep their heads down and not mention the things that they saw unless it was definitely safe to do so. None of them would feel the need to share about this for fear that Grace would get them fired and while she thought it was awful they felt that way she wasn’t exactly going to correct them in this case. Pulling into the driveway Grace’s only intention was to let Simon sleep on the couch for a few hours before taking him home. Doing her best not to wake him she practically dragged him inside and did her best to direct a very groggy Simon on where to sleep.

He passed out on the couch right away and she came back with blankets covering him as he slept. Simon was kind of a total idiot but she liked him and had every intention of keeping her promise about helping him find the train. Not just for her own closure, and not just so that other people could be protected from the same fate that the two of them had met, but also for his closure. Grace wondered what happened to Simon after the two had been separated on the train and she was sure she’d ask at some point. Considering how much hell he’d put himself through upon discovering the fact that it was real, something told her it hadn’t been as comforting as her time.

Grace scrolled on her phone as he slept and after a targeted ad for prom dresses appeared she was reminded of exactly why she’d been avoiding her home when her and Simon had discovered the truth about the train. Grace gritted her teeth as she was reminded of her mother’s words to her and wearing a nice dress and going to prom with a nice boy. Considering her mothers clear distaste for her friends it wasn’t like she could just ask a guy friend to play along for one night. Grace looked at Simon again. Her parents hadn’t met him and therefore didn’t hate him. 

Sure he definitely wasn’t the Harvard bound honor’s student that her parents probably wanted her to go with. But take the hair out of the ponytail to hide the undercut, scrap off the black nail polish, get him in a suit, and he would make a convincing clone of one. She of course wouldn’t force him to be dragged along to her prom, that wasn’t a fate she wished on anyone, but if she managed to convince her parents that they were together and that he was a good influence she might not have to sneak around when trying to find the train. That, and she’d maybe get her mom off of her ass. Both were good for her. 

Simon snored and Grace chuckled as she walked off to the kitchen to put away her leftovers. She smiled to herself as she realized just how many issues were getting resolved today. Grace didn’t know what she’d do if they actually did manage to find the train, but she decided then and there that she’d stay friends with Simon regardless.


	4. Payoff

Grace’s initial plan had simply been to let Simon take a short nap, to wake him up after a few hours and send him home. Unfortunately that plan was interrupted somewhat by the fact that she’d fallen asleep as well somewhere along the line. They’d gotten back from lunch around 12:30 and a quick check on her phone indicated that it was currently 6:00. Ignoring the fact that her sleep schedule would no doubt be messed up Grace was more concerned that she still needed to kick Simon out of her house.

“Dude, wake up.” she said as she made her way over to the couch and shook him. Simon let out an annoyed groan in response before looking surprised at who was waking him up.

“Grace?” he asked. “Why are you at my house?” he said. Grace shook her head and gestured around.

“You are in fact at my house.” she said. “I brought you here after lunch, do you remember?” Simon put his head in his hands and tried to focus on what was being said.

“Is my car here?” he asked. Grace nodded in response. “What time is it?” he questioned.

“Six.” she responded. Simon thought about something for a moment before making a split second decision.

“You want to go on a quick trip? I promise I’ll bring you back right after and I'll be out of your hair.” he explained. Grace nodded and grabbed her purse.

“I’m always down for a quick adventure.” Grace responded. Simon nodded and two headed out to the beat up truck that Simon drove. As she climbed into the passenger seat Grace asked a question. “So, where are we going.” Simon quickly gave his response.

“If we really are going to expose the train for the internet there’s something important that we’ll need. I have that important thing but it just so happens to be at my dad’s house right now so we’ll just stop by, grab it, and get out before anyone notices.” he explained. Grace took that information and began attempting to piece together Simon’s paternal history with what she knew about him. His parents had been apart when he was ten with his dad having a girlfriend and living states away. According to his testimony in group his dad and mom had gotten back together while he was missing.

And according to what he’d just said about his dad living in a separate house, paired with the clear vitriol in his voice at the mention of his father told Grace that it hadn’t lasted long. Grace chose not to ask Simon any questions about it as she sat in that passenger seat. Simon switched the radio output over to a CD which played some discordant noise that he proceeded to bob his head along to. Grace looked at him absolutely dumbfounded about how this at all could be catchy to him.

“Can we listen to like, anything else?” she asked. Simon cracked a smirk. 

“Would you prefer Carly Rae Jepson’s highly acclaimed 2015 pop classic Emotion?” he asked. Grace raised her eyebrow in suspicion of his knowledge of her music tastes. “It’s up next on your Apple Music queue.” he explained. Grace looked away in embarrassment.

“That is a good album.” she muttered under her breath. Simon quickly gave his snarky response.

“My car, my music.” he’d said as the discordant sounds of a group that Grace was told by the artist info called themselves “Death Grips” blasted throughout the truck. Despite his clear and seemingly determined stance against changing his music taste for Grace’s comfort he did switch the radio to something else.

The words “I thought that I was dreaming when you said you loved me” drifted hazily from the radio and Grace felt herself relax as it was much calmer than Simon’s other fare. Actually she was pretty sure she knew this artist. Grace dug into her pocket and checked the song against her playlist and found that her and Simon shared this artist in common. Simon pretended not to feel happy about that. Frank Ocean crooned on in the background as Grace decided to ask Simon about that favor she’d been thinking of before she’d fallen asleep.

“Hey, can I ask you a favor,” she began. Simon gave his response immediately. 

“Yes, of course, anything.” he said. Grace was about to continue with the question but instead stopped to address his response to the question.

“You know, if someone is about to ask you a favor you shouldn’t agree before hearing what it is. What if I was about to ask you to be my albi for murder?” she questioned humorously. Simon responded with an equally humous notion.

“I would simply cover for you with no questions.” he responded. Grace raised an eyebrow and chuckled at this.

“Really?” she asked. Simon laughed. 

“No, of course not really.” he said. “But that wasn’t the favor you were going to ask for,” he added. Grace nodded and presented her actual idea.

“So, it’s a long story but essentially, I'm being strong armed into going to prom by my mom. She says I need to go with a guy that fits her standards and considering she hates all of my other friends I can’t just ask them. So I guess what I, asking is, can you be my fake date to prom so my mom doesn’t kick me out?” she asked. Simon smiled to himself.

“Are you sure your parents are going to be cool with me considering everything about me?” he asked, vaguely gesturing to himself.

“Yeah that’s the second part of the favor. I kind of need you to let me give you a basic bitch makeover. It would just be for two days, my mom will want to meet you first and then for prom.” she explained. The car was silent for a while after that and Grace recognized how unfair it was to ask Simon to change everything about himself to do her a favor. “If you don’t want to, it's fine, I completely understand.” she added hoping that she didn’t seem like she was pressuring him too much.

“It’s fine, I’ll do it.” he responded. Grace let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you.” she said. “You’re awesome.” Simon waved her off before responding.

“It’s no problem, what are friends for?” he said. Simon pulled the truck into the driveway of an older looking one story house. Grace noticed how the white paint was peeling from the walls of place and revealed darkened wood underneath. There was a grey sudan already in the driveway when they pulled up and Grace could tell it had likely seen better days. “Shit, he’s home.” Simon muttered under his breath.

“What's wrong?” Grace asked as Simon laid his head on the steering wheel in frustration. At the question he looked up and gave an answer.

“Okay, so new plan. I am going to sneak in through the back window, get what I came for, and leave. You are going to stay in the car.” he said unbuckling his seatbelt to go enact his plan. Grace gave him an indignant look.

“You can’t just bring me here, lay out a plan, and tell me to stay in the car while expecting me to roll with it. What if you're about to commit a crime?” she asked. Simon shook his head. 

“My dad is home and I didn’t think he would be. I just wanted to grab what he took from me back and leave but now that he’s here I’ll have to climb through a window to get it back. Besides, he’s a piece of shit, I don’t want you to interact with him.” he explained once again attempting to leave the car. Grace began unbuckling her seatbelt.

“I’m following you unless you give me a real reason.” she said threateningly. Simon put his head in his hands.

“The fact that he’s a piece of shit wasn’t good enough?” he asked. Grace shook her head. Simon let out a sigh. “He’s also a racist piece of shit and I wouldn’t have brought you here if I knew that he was going to be home.” Simon explained sadly. Grace’s face went to surprise and then to tired discontentment. She rebuckled her seat belt.

“Okay, I’ll stay in the car.” she responded. Simon gave her an incredible apologetic look.

“I’m sorry.” he said. Grace looked at him confused.

“Why?” she asked. He thought for a moment and then shrugged.

“I don’t know, for being his kid I guess.” he offered. Grace waved him off.

“Go get your thing.” she responded. Simon rushed off to do just that as Grace sat in the car. She made a mental note to ask Simon about his parents when he got back before deciding to snoop around his CDs. For one, she found it hilarious that he even still had CDs but besides that she wanted to see what he listened to. Death Grips, Deafheaven, Swans, and a bunch of other groups Grace had never heard of and decided she never wanted to hear were among the CDs along with Frank Ocean, the one Grace actually enjoyed. She hadn’t pegged Simon as the type, but she was glad they had at least one artist in common.

As she continued to look at his collection of music she heard the sound of footsteps running towards the car. Simon quickly approached, put something in the truck, and ran to the driver side putting on his seatbelt before hitting the gas, reversing out the driveway and speeding off. Simon seemed incredibly tense when he started driving but after he’d put what he considered sufficient distance between himself and that house he relaxed a bit and looked at Grace out of the corner of his eye.

“I guess you probably want an explanation for that?” he offered. Grace nodded.

“That would be great actually.” she responded. Simon sighed and started.

“Okay, but this is a long story so strap in.” he prefaced. “When i was a kid my dad ran off to Florida yada yada you know all of that. When I was missing my dad’s girlfriend dumped him and he came back to try and play the grieving father role and to make things work with my mom. Put make things work in air quotes. When I got back I was super excited because I thought we were going to be a family or whatever but by that point the train had put me through so much hell I immediately saw what a piece of garbage my dad was both to me and my mother.” he started.

“He’s racist, emotionally abusive, and manipulative. The only relationship he wants with me is one he can use to manipulate my mom with. They divorced officially when I was twelve and I cut off all contact with him when I was thirteen. But he still wants to manipulate myself and my mom so his grand plan this time was to steal some of my shit and text me saying I’d have to talk to him if I want it back. So that’s why I had to break in to get it back.” he finished. Grace looked at him sympathetically.

“Thats, a lot.” she offered. Simon nodded.

“So, when do I unlock your tragic backstory?” he asked. Grace laughed at this, happy that the mood had been lightened a bit from the extremely sad story of Simon’s life.

“Maybe later.” she offered as they pulled into the driveway of her house. “Before I go inside are you going to show me what was worth all of this trouble?” she asked. Simon nodded and both climbed out of the truck to see just what it was that he’d stowed in the trunk. Opening it Grace was greeted by a camera. Not just any camera, a professional looking film camera. Simon explained.

“I saved up for this over the course of four summers, it’s one of the best video cameras on the market, and we’re going to use it to find the train.” he said determined. Grace smiled.

“It’s awesome. I’ll be the lovable host and you can be my trusty and silent camera man.” she joked. Simon rolled his eyes.

“I’ll be the camera man but there’s no way in hell you're getting me to be silent. After all, the crux of any good show is a strong dynamic between the leads.” he responded. Grace thought for a moment before nodding.

“When do we start filming?” she asked.

“How does tomorrow sound?” he questioned. Grace checked the time on her phone, her parents would be home soon. 

“Tomorrow is perfect.” she said as she ran up the steps towards her home.


	5. Montage

“I finally figured out what I’m going to do about Prom.” Grace mentioned casually as she put the finishing touches on her part of the mural. Delila walked over to get more paint for her side and acknowledged Grace’s claim.

“What is that?” she asked as she added red to the sharpie lineart of the flower that Taylor had done on the school wall.

“That vampire guy I mentioned said he’d pretend to be my date.” Grace responded. She could practically hear Delila’s brow furrow in surprise and besumement at the idea.

“How do you think that’s going to go over with your mother?” Delila asked in response. Grace added the final stroke of turquoise that she needed before taking a step back to admire the work she’d contributed to.

“It’ll be fine, i’ve got a plan.” she said. Her phone buzzed with a reminder she’d set and Grace started gathering her things.”Speaking of that guy, I promised him we’d meet up, see you guys tomorrow.” she called at her friends as Grace headed to her car. Today was set to be a practice day for herself and Simon in more ways than one. First on the agenda was looking over all of the information they’d gathered separately about the train in order to decide on where their first shoot would be held. Secondly, Grace would be coaching Simon on how to speak to her mom.

Grace was fairly confident in the plan of gathering information about the whereabouts of the train and she was certainly far more concerned about the second item on the agenda. She sat in the driver’s seat of the car for a moment fiddling with the bluetooth until she landed on a song she liked. “How To Be A Heartbreaker” started and Grace relaxed as she drove towards the address Simon had given her. The house Grace pulled up to was fairly boring as houses of its stripe went. It was small, and looked like it could use a fresh coat of paint but otherwise clean.

The grass was also freshly cut which Grace recognized as a stark difference from the house of Simon’s father with it’s overgrown weed filled yard. This conjured a mental image of Simon in full e-boy attire cutting the grass on a hot summer day, an image which made Grace laugh. She climbed out of the car and walked up to the door and rang the doorbell taking a moment to read the welcome mat which contained a Bible quote. Grace hadn’t exactly pegged Simon as having come from a religious family but it was an interesting tidbit.

Simon opened the door and gave her a smile before inviting her inside. The house was interesting, the walls covered in pottery barn decor and signs that said things like “Life Begins After 40” which made Grace chuckle but not in the unironic way that the signs had intended. The kitchen smelled like cookies and a woman quickly emerged from it. 

“Hi, you must be Simon’s friend Grace.” she offered. Grace nodded and studied the woman. The light brown hair that was in a ponytail kept falling into her face and the lines around her mouth would have left her mother, who always did her best to keep a blank expression for fear of wrinkles, horrified. “Would you like a cookie?” Simon’s mother asked as she offered one and Grace nodded taking the chocolate chip cookie off of her hands.

“Can I have one?” Simon asked and his mother ignored him walking off to the kitchen. Grace chuckled and continued eating her food as Simon changed the subject. “Let’s go upstairs, I can show you what I was working on when I wasn’t sleeping.” he said as he walked toward the stairs. Grace followed as his mother called out behind them.

“Keep the door open!” she responded. Grace held back laughter as Simon muttered to himself under his breath.

“Oh that she hears.” he said to no one in particular. As he swung the door open Grace was greeted by the site of Simon’s room and it was exactly as she’d pictured it. It wasn’t dirty persay, clothes were in drawers and wrappers were in garbage cans, but it was messy. Scattered notes and drawings littered the desk and floor. Posters for bands Grace had never heard of and movies she found pretentious were hung haphazardly coating every wall as if he was afraid that no one would know he liked them otherwise.

A bookshelf that contained a mix of horror novels,middle grade fantasy, and college level books on film theory sat in a corner, each disparate genre likely marking different phases in his reading habits. In the center of the room there was a white board that had every inch of freespace covered with writing that Grace could gather was in english but she knew nothing about otherwise. Simon’s handwriting was chicken scratch and she hoped that he knew it. She grabbed the computer chair from his desk and sat backwards to face the board.

“So, I assume that the white board has something to do with your research.” she asked. Simon nodded as he walked towards it seemingly trying to decide where to start. Grace made a playful jab. “Is that handwriting due to not having slept or do you just always write like someone on the verge of collapse from tiredness?” she asked. Simon rolled his eyes and smirked.

“I don’t think i’ll be taking criticism from Ms Light-up Skechers.” he shot back. Grace looked playfully offended.

“These are not light-up Skechers, they are platform gym shoes thank you very much.” she responded. “Now why don’t you tell me what’s on that board before you forget how to read your illegible writing.” she said. Simon responded by doing as asked.

“Alright, so here’s what I’ve gathered so far;” he began “All of the trains that run through this state have stops in all of these places,” he said before listing off all of the train stops in the entire state for an unbearably long amount of time. “The great news about that is that we can officially rule all of those places out. The train operates on magical logic and it appeared in impossible places for both of us meaning that it likely wouldn’t stop at a normal station.” he explained before looking at her. “That's what I’ve got.” Grace looked at him dumbfounded.

“Really? You stayed awake for eight days straight and that’s all you’ve got?” she chuckled. Simon looked slightly embarrassed.

“It took a long time to find every train station in the state, and besides someone who’s been awake for multiple days doesn’t do the best job at research,” he added. Grace laughed in earnest at this.

“When you looked over all your research, was it just like, random stream of consciousness thoughts?” she asked. “Because if so I’d love to see it.” she added. Simon shook his head and took a seat on his bed to give his answer.

“Actually it was like a shopping list,” he said, grabbing the notebook next to him to read from it. “Black nail polish, apples, mechanical pencils,” he began before stopping abruptly. Grace watched as his brow furrowed and he struggled to try and understand what he was reading. “Okay this is complete nonsense,” he prefaced before reading it aloud anyway, “White cat, kid, lower issues, camouflage.” he read.

“Are you sure you weren’t high instead of just tired?” Grace asked as Simon discarded the paper. Simon rolled his eyes and gave a response.

“Well what do you have written down?” he asked. Grace grabbed her phone and opened the folder on her notes app where she’d been documenting the things she knew about the train.

“The train finds people with issues and it finds them when they're vulnerable. It always appears as a train but it can change the type of train based on the person. The best way to try and find the train would be somewhere that desperate vulnerable people are.” she read methodically from the phone before looking up. “Personally, I think if we’re trying to find vulnerable and desperate people with issues all we’d have to do is go wherever you shop.” she teased.

“Ha ha very funny. Seriously though if we’re looking for a place why not a graveyard at night. If I was a magic train trying to discreetly kidnap someone it’s perfect. Dark, full of lamenting people who haven’t properly processed their grief, it's got everything the train would want.” he explained. Grace nodded and started googling.

“There’s a graveyard on Center avenue, we can go look for the train there this weekend.” she said. Simon nodded and put the event in his calendar. Grace looked over at the camera which now rested safely on his shelf. His bedroom window had been bolted shut and Grace wondered if it was an effort to keep his dad out or if he was just like that. She chose not to ask. “You know, I didn’t peg you as the type to be into filmmaking.” she said looking once again at his stack of books. Simon lit up at the opportunity to talk about it.

“Yeah, when I got off the train I was obsessed with the idea of making a movie about it. Obviously that plan was slowed down by the fact that I completely suppressed those memories but it means that making these videos is kind of a nostalgia trip for me.” he explained. Grace nodded in response and tried to think of what a movie about the train would even look like. Likely, it would be very surreal and likely too strange to reach a mainstream audience from her perspective. 

“You got any other movie ideas?” she asked. Simon nodded.

“I’ve got tons, I like stories, I like creating narratives that take you somewhere else because reality sucks a lot of the time and escapism is fun.” he explained. He did seem truly passionate about his ideas and Grace thought it was fairly cute how invested he was. Then she remembered that he was going to have to impress her parents and that investment became a liability.

“Okay, while that’s really cool we need to review how you’re going to talk to my mother, so let’s talk about the new Simon.” she explained. Simon sat up intently. “I’ll ask some questions, you just answer them.” Simon nodded. “Okay Simon, what are your college plans?” she asked. Simon gave a response.

“Well, I thought I’d do two years at a community college-“ he started. Grace cut him off.

“That’s a really great plan in reality but in the fake world we’re making up your going to Harvard.” she explained. Simon nodded and wrote it down. “What’s your family like?”

“Well…” Simon thought for a moment before answering. “My dad is a doctor and my mom is a lawyer?” he said though it was more of a question than an answer. Grace nodded and he wrote it down.

“What career will you be going into?” she asked. Simon, who had caught on at this point was clear and quick with his answer.

“Well I’m going to be a computer science major and after that I’ll likely take a lucrative position at a Fortune 500 company.” he said in a haughty tone of voice that made Grace laugh.

“Okay, I think you're ready to meet my mom. Just remember when in doubt, just think of what a rich asshole would do and do that.” she said. Now it was Simon’s turn to laugh.

“Speaking of which, do you want to practice making me look like a total rich prick?” he asked. Grace nodded and grabbed her bag dumping out a mess of combs, gel, nail polish remover, makeup, and some clothes that went against Simon's typical e-boy style. 

“Are you ready for a makeover montage?” Grace asked. Simon shook his head but ultimately allowed her to mess around in his hair, to scrub the nail polish from his fingers, and to use makeup to better refine his face. Tossing him the clothes Simon took the button up shirt and slacks and changed in the bathroom. Coming out Grace took a moment to admire her work.

“How do I look?” he asked awkwardly. Grace cracked a smile at this version of Simon. The undercut was hidden, the nail polish was gone and thanks to the makeup she’d borrowed from a friend she’d even hidden the dark circles he intentionally made prominent. That paired with the normal clothes almost made Grace think she was looking at a completely different person.

“You look normal.” she responded.

“Is that a good or bad thing?” he questioned sincerely. Grace chuckled and put his hair back into a ponytail. 

“You decide.” she teased with something slightly more than platonic in her voice. Grace pretended it wasn’t there and Simon didn’t acknowledge it either.


	6. Scene One

Grace watched as Simon fiddled with the settings on the camera as she sat impatient in his room once again. Before heading out to the graveyard the two decided that they’d film an intro and outro for their first episode in Simon’s room. He’d begged to shoot at her house but she was very clear that if her parents first impression of him was an e-boy with a camera recording their house while they talked about magic trains, they’d assume drugs were involved. So instead they’d rearranged Simon’s room to look a bit more professional and filmed there.

“Alright,” Simon said, having finally found the settings he liked. “Go ahead and give us an intro.” he added pointing the camera at her. The red light on the thing went on and Grace began speaking.

“Hey, I'm Grace Monroe and welcome to the as of yet unnamed youtube show that we’re doing.” she announced.

“I don’t get why we don’t just call it Train Hunters like I suggested.” Simon muttered.

“Because,” Grace began. “That name is stupid, it’s literally just the thing we’re doing. You wouldn’t name a ghost show Ghost Hunters.” she said. Simon rolled his eyes.

“There are multiple shows with that name,” he said dryly. Grace was quick with a retort.

“Then your suggestion was stupid and unoriginal.” she said in a faux sweet voice before facing the camera once again. “If you couldn’t tell that was my trusty and not so silent cameraman Simon.” Simon turned the camera towards himself.

“Hello, I’m Simon, and as you can see the two of us have very contrasting aesthetics.” he joked before turning the camera back on her.

“So, everything that I’m about to explain will sound wild, but you have to keep in mind that it’s all true,” she started. “So, about eight years ago both me and Simon went missing.” she said. Simon began talking.

“And that’s not the wild part, that’s just fact, the records are publicly available.” he mentioned.

“Right,” Grace nodded. “We were both gone for a year and then were later found again. But the thing was, we weren’t kidnaped or lost in the woods, and we weren’t found in a police raid, we were on a magic train.” she said before pausing for a beat. “Alright now that all of you have either clicked off or commented that we’re liars let me tell you what went down. A train that looked different for both of us rolled around where we were when we were sad and vulnerable and took us both in separate locations.”

“Then, when we got on the train we met each other and some other people along our journey. Explaining exactly what went on would make us sound even more crazy but trust us this thing defies all laws of reality.” Simon added helpfully.

“So why are we telling you this now? Because, this train put us through awful things when we were just kids and it’s still out there kidnapping kids. The train can only operate as long as nobody knows about it. If we prove the train is real we can keep kids from going through what we went through.” she said honestly. Simon turned the camera to himself.

“Also, we can tell every therapist who told us we were making stuff up to suck it.” he said. Grace acted fake shocked and offended.

“Simon, why would you ever say such a thing? I in fact harbor no ill will towards the people who told me that I was making up an entire year of experiences.” she said amused. “Anyway the train targets people who are isolated, vulnerable, and have problems they need to work through, so our first stop on trying to find it is the graveyard near here.” she announced. “So it’s time to cut over there and watch us try to find it.” Simon turned off the camera.

“That was great, you’re a natural.” Simon said stowing the camera away in his bag.

“Yeah well, what was it you said about a show being built on the dynamic of the leads?” she responded as a way to return the compliment. As the sun set the two climbed into Grace’s car and headed for the graveyard. Grace switched over to one of her playlists and let it play softly in the background.

“What is this?” Simon asked.

“Arlo Park.” Grace responded. Simon gave a teasing look.

“It sounds like the musical equivalent of plain toast.” he said. Grace rolled her eyes.

“Better than the audio equivalent of a migraine headache.” she shot back. Simon ignored her comments on his music taste as he dug the camera out of his bag and began recording Grace while she drove. “Why are you recording me? I'm not doing anything interesting.” she responded while chuckling. Simon gave his answer.

“I can’t help it, the camera loves you.” he said honestly. Grace shot back with a playful retort.

“I don’t think it’s just the camera that loves me.” she joked. Simon pretended to be shocked.

“Grace, you can’t say things like that! The shippers will go wild!” he said. Grace laughed at this.

“We haven’t even posted episode one and you’re already imagining that we have shippers.” she laughed. “Besides, we’re a guy and a girl, I could say that I want you dead and people would still find chemistry in it.” she said. Simon shut the camera off and put it back in his bag as the two approached the graveyard. It was fairly empty being close to closing.

“Alright, are you ready to scale a fence?” Simon asked after the place had closed and he and Grace left the car with intent to enter. Grace stretched and gave a smirk.

“I bet I can do it faster than you.” she teased before beginning to scale the fence. Simon rushed after her but did fail to beat her time.

“That is so unfair, I’ve got a heavy camera on my back.” he said. Grace shrugged at his excuse.

“It’s okay, sometimes you’ve just got to admit defeat.” she explained. Simon ignored this joke and began walking deeper into the place scanning the area for anyone who looked like a target for the train. He turned on the camera and began shooting.

“All we’ve got to do is look around for anything suspicious, like a giant train running through a graveyard for insistence.” Grace joked. Simon booed her attempt at comedy and she ignored it. The two searched the graveyard for anything or anyone out of place. They did find two separate people who were in the place after hours but neither of them seemed to summon the train and both left quickly after leaving flowers. As the two made another pass around the place Simon struck up a conversation.

“Hey, I know I never asked you but, what did you do after we got separated on the train?” he asked. Early in their journey around the cemetery they’d explained their brief time together and separation on the train for the future viewing public so Grace didn’t hesitate to give her explanation.

“Well I met this denizen-” Grace cut herself off. “Do we need to explain what a denizen is?” she asked. Simon shook his head.

“I’ll add it in post.” he responded from behind the camera. Grace nodded and continued.

“Alright, so anyway, I met this denizen named Molly. She was so sweet, had this thick southern accent, and was the closest thing to an adult figure I had on the train. She taught me about numbers and helped me get off the train.” Grace explained. She looked at Simon but found his expression was sad at her explanation of her time on the train. He looked like he was deep in thought about something. “Simon, you okay dude?” she asked. Simon shook his head of whatever thought plagued him and responded.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” he said calmly. Grace frowned and asked him a different question.

“What happened to you after we got separated?” she asked. Simon thought for a moment before giving an answer.

“I don’t really want to talk about it.” he responded. It wasn;t the answer Grace had been expecting but she didn’t push him any farther on the matter. They finished their fifth passthrough of the graveyard and decided to call it a night. “I’ll take a look at this footage during editing and then we can film the outro based on what we have.” he explained as the two regrouped in Grace’s car.

“Sounds good.” Grace responded. “Do you want me to take you straight home?” she asked. Simon looked at her surprised.

“You don’t want to get something to eat?” Simon asked. Grace gave him a sympathetic look.

“I’d love to but unfortunately I have a conversation with my mother waiting for me when I get home and the longer I put that off the worse it will be.” Grace explained. Simon gave her a nod and she dropped him back at his house before practically speeding home to make it back before her designated curfew. The conversation with her mother already wouldn’t be pleasant and it would likely be even less so if she was home late. Grace entered the house and was greeted by her mother.

“You just barely made curfew.” she said as Grace stepped into the house. Grace apologized profusely.

“I”m sorry, I was out looking at prom dresses.” she explained. Her mother gave her a curious and hopeful look.

“So you’ve given our conversation some more thought?” her mother asked. Grace nodded.

“Yes, and you’re right. I should be trying to embrace the future rather than focusing on the past.” Grace said, lying through her teeth. How ironic that what she’d actually been doing was searching for a remnant of her past. Her mother smiled at Grace’s seeming revelation.

“That’s lovely. Me and your father already have some lovely young men who we think would make a suitable date for you.” she explained. Grace quickly swooped in with her news.

“Actually, I’ve already decided who to go with.” Grace said. Her mother wrinkled her nose at this, already distrustful of Grace’s tastes in company.

“He isn’t one of your friends is he?” she asked with clear distrust in her voice. Grace shook her head at this.

“No, you haven’t met him, he’s a transfer from a different school.” she explained. Her mother eyed her down as if searching for weakness in her daughter and Grace did her best to mask it. “He’s an honors student and has early admission to Harvard.” she explained. Her mother softened a bit at this.

“I’d like to meet him, Saturday, four o’clock sharp. Have him bring his credentials.” her mother said before walking off to bed. Grace let out a genuine sigh of relief. Falsifying documents would be easy compared to having to get her mother to want to meet him. She sat down on the couch and relaxed, determined to make Simon seem like exactly the type of person who her parents would love and she would hate. She’d have to convince her mother that Simon was her big step towards the future, when in reality he was the strongest link to her past.


	7. Plot Point

Grace paced around her room nervously as she contemplated the upcoming events in her life. Soon she would have to introduce her parents to Simon which depending on her luck would go smoothly or would ruin her life. In addition Simon had uploaded the first episode of their show and Grace was incredibly nervous about that outcome as well. As she paced back and forth Grace decided she needed something to take her mind off of the events at hand. Grace needed a break.

And so she decided to take one. Hoping in her car Grace drove out to a favorite spot of hers, an area that looked down upon the entirety of her admittedly not that impressive town. That wasn’t the spot she was headed for however. Exiting the car Grace casually walked the well-worn path through a clearing in the brush out to a rarely visited area of the woods and sat there looking at the clear sky and wondering how her life became a series of unlikely coincidences. Casually she dug her phone from her purse as it began to ring.

“Hey Grace, great news,” Simon began. “The video is doing really well; it's gotten like 2k over the course of two days.” he said. Grace chuckled.

“Is that a lot?” she questioned.

“For an unestablished channel which completely switched it’s branding and uploaded a video in which two teenagers pose a huge conspiracy I’d say yes.” he responded. “So, what are you doing?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Trying to get my mind off of the incredibly stupid plan we’re trying to pull of.” she said. Simon was quiet for a bit after this before responding.

“Ah,” he said. “Is that something you want to do alone?” he asked. At this Grace thought for a moment and then answered.

“No actually.” she said but pointedly she did not ask him to join her deciding that she would wait to see if he asked.

“Can I join you then?” Simon questioned exactly as Grace suspected he would. She laughed a little at this.

“You really are obsessed with me huh? Got nothing better to do then to spend all of your time with me?” she teased. 

“I like spending time with you.” Simon said plainly and the response was so sincere and honest that it almost caught Grace off guard with it’s sheer contrast to the typical coldness she was used to when interacting with those close to you. There was a long pause after that before Grace spoke again.

“I’ll text you the directions.” she said before doing it. And so Grace sat there and waited for Simon to come join her in this place that she never shared with anybody but wanted to share with him despite herself. As she sat there Grace thought about the earnestness in Simon’s comment and thinking back on their original time together Grace concluded he was always a bit like that. Back when they’d met she could remember calling him a crybaby but maybe that was just the reaction that a person from an emotionally distant family has to emotional people.

“Grace?” Simon had said upon approaching her in the clearing an indeterminate amount of time later. Grace turned around and smiled, not saying anything but beckoning him to sit next to her which he obliged. Grace smirked at him as he sat near her and she spoke to him casually.

“Hey Simon, nice of you grace me with your presence.” she said. He sighed and ignored her finding it more productive to talk about the response to the video.

“Most of the comments are calling us liars as you suspected but we’ve actually gained quite a few subscribers, I think that we’ve got a chance at actually growing a community.” he explained. Grace raised an eyebrow.

“And why exactly do you sound so excited about that?” she asked knowing he was desperate to explain. 

“The train was huge and filled with people, what if we find someone else who was on the train?” he asked. Grace paused at this before becoming similarly excited. Finding another person who was on the train might help them to confirm similar experiences and perhaps learn something else about it’s general workings. Perhaps she could have been even more excited about it had it not been for the continuously gnawing thought in the back of her head about Simon meeting her mother. Wanting to take her mind off of this Grace changed the subject.

“Simon, you are completely entitled to your secrets and if you don’t want to talk about it I’ll never ask again but, what happened to you on the train?” she asked. He stared at something that wasn’t there for a long moment and Grace felt hit with deja vu remembering asking about Simon’s entry onto the train before he gave a response.

“After we separated I was alone for a long time. I almost died, more than once. Eventually I ran into a familiar face though, Samantha.” he looked at Grace to confirm she knew what he was talking about and she nodded so he continued. “I asked her why she left me and never came back and she told me it was because I wasn’t worth the risk. That killed me inside a little Grace. But she did at least tell me that I was wrong about how the train worked and I made it my goal to get off as fast as possible so I’d never see her again. And I did.” he concluded.

“Simon, that’s awful.” she said sympathetically. Simon shrugged in response.

“It’s fine. It doesn’t matter at all now actually it was just that hearing you talk about how you actually had a solid experience on the train reminded me of it.” he said apathetically. Grace looked uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry I didn’t try to find you.” she said. Simon gave her a shocked look.

“Are you kidding me Grace? You were a kid, we were both kids. It was in no way your responsibility to try and take care of me and I deeply apologize if I gave you that impression. You don’t owe me anything. We both came out of the train alive and probably the most well-adjusted we could be considering the circumstances. This is the best timeline.” he reassured. Grace smiled at him and responded.

“I guess you’re right. Though, I do resent your statement about me having a solid time on the train.” she explained. 

“Why is that?” Simon asked. Grace gave her explanation.

“I lost my best friend.” she said in a tone that held both playfulness and regret. Simon looked fake offended.

“Hey, overbearing sincerity is my brand, get your own thing.” he pretended to complain. “Well, your own thing besides the whole dressing like the product of a nuclear accident at the crayola factory aesthetic I mean.” he added teasingly. Grace rolled her eyes.

“Pack it up Edward Cullen, you’re not funny.” she said and the two laughed in that way that only close friends really can. And then the laughter faded and it was instead two people looking at each other and Grace suddenly felt hyper aware that if she really wanted to she could kiss Simon at that moment. She didn’t of course, she wouldn’t. Grace told herself it was because they were friends and she didn’t feel that way about him and maybe that was a little true but also, she didn’t tend to have those thoughts about her other friends.

And then that moment ended and the conversation moved on and Grace got to pretend that she hadn’t had the thought that she had just had. The day went by and so did the next two and before Grace could even be really prepared it was the day that she’d told her mother that she’d get to meet Simon. Grace, being herself had a plan prepared and at around 2:00 in the afternoon she enacted it. Pulling up to Simon’s house she parked her car in front and rang the doorbell.

“Hi sweetie, Simon is upstairs.” his mother had said addressing her when opening the door.

“Thank you.” Grace had responded before walking upstairs into Simon’s room. He sat at the computer seemingly editing something looking up upon noticing her. He seemed surprised by her presence but the fact that he’d forgotten she was coming over was something she’d already deduced by the fact that he’d seemingly just rolled out of bed and hadn’t even bothered to put on a shirt. Grace felt her face get hot and she told herself that it was from the embarrassment and surprise. “Did you forget what you have to do today?” she asked.

“Of course not, but remind me just to be sure.” he said as he grabbed a shirt and casually threw it on. Grace hoped that it was because he wanted to and not because he noticed that she was embarrassed.

“You are going to be convincing my parents that you’re their idea of a good influence so that means that we’ve got to get you made over, rehearsed, and ready before four.” she explained. Simon raised an eyebrow.

“You make it sound like I’m going for a job interview,” he said. Grace let out a sarcastic laugh at this.

“Oh trust me, this will be far worse than a job interview.” she explained. 

“Is that why you’re dressed like that?” he asked. To sell the illusion that Simon was in fact a good influence Grace had elected to dress in the clothing her parents bought her that being high end, name brand, fashions that they deemed appropriate for her to be seen in. Grace felt more out of place in the clothes than anything but it was for a good cause.

“Yeah, how do I look?” she asked jokingly. Simon’s voice sounded more serious when he answered.

“You look uncomfortable.” he said honestly. Grace ignored that and proceeded to give him the necessary makeover. Once they’d concluded the two took a moment to look at themselves in the mirror with their new look and assess the results.

“We look like the picture that comes with the frame. In other words, we look absolutely normal and boring aka the look that we’re going for.” she said at the final results. Then of course came helping Simon brush up on the new identity that had been crafted for him including the forged documents that Grace had made up. When being given these materials Simon gave her a concerned look.

“How did you-” he started to ask before cutting himself off. “You know what, I don’t want to know.” he said and Grace nodded indicating it was the right move. After Grace felt confident that this had a chance of going well the two took the journey to her home and were met at the door by her parents.

“Mom, dad, this is Simon.” she’d said. Simon gave handshakes as instructed as well as used the proper ma'am and sir as she’d told him to. Outwardly as the four walked around the house you might mistake them for loving parents meeting their daughters boyfriend. But to anyone looking closer a battle of wits was at play. Simon had a response for every question, a verifying document for every off hand remark, a cordial response for every trap laid out for him. Eventually, her mother and father had to go to some important meeting, and her mother addressed her before she left.

“He seems nice.” her mother said smiling. Grace knew her mother well enough to know that was as close to a compliment that she was going to get. After the two had left the house Simon asked her about the result.

“How did I do?” he asked. Grace smiled.

“They love you.” she said happily. The two celebrated by going through the drive through and eating fast food in the parking lot of a Mcdonald’s, something her mother would surely disapprove of. Some music neither of them could hear over their own laughter played and Grace felt more comfortable then she had ever felt before despite her clothing.


	8. Building Tension

Grace watched curiously as Simon paced back and forth adding various strings to the cork board that he was working off of. The introduction of the cork board had replaced their former method of research and conclusion drawing which had been the white board covered in unintelligible writing. Pictures of the locations they'd visited with notes written by Grace were now how they tried to establish a pattern. And now Grace sat and watched as Simon struggled to make a useful connection.

"We're close, I can feel it," he began "There's just something we're missing." he said tiredly as he stared at the board. Grace, taking a form of pity on him got up from her chair and put her arm on his shoulder.

"Why don't we wrap it up for the day?" she asked. Simon looked as though he was considering it before waving the idea off.

"We're really close Grace I can feel it, you can go home if you want but I've got to figure this out." he said before removing a pin holding a string and moving it over a different picture. Grace sighed to herself. She knew that Simon wasn't exactly good at taking care of himself, he'd let his physical and mental health go to shit if he thought it would be beneficial to finding the train. Grace sat back down and turned towards Simon's computer.

"What's your password?" she asked casually not at all expecting an answer.

"It's Honeycomb with a capital H." he said calmly. Grace entered in the password and was surprised when it worked.

"Dude you just let me into your computer? You don't want to clear your search history first?" she asked jokingly. Simon turned away from the board and addressed her.

"Nothing to hide, nothing to clear." he explained. "What did you want it for anyway?" he asked as Grace went onto Google.

"I'm going to check the view counts on our last two videos, and read the comments." she explained. Simon sucked the air in through his teeth to indicate that she was making a mistake.

"You know you're not supposed to read the comments." he reminded her. Grace mostly ignored him in favor of checking the numbers. The videos were both doing well, they gained a sizable following and the videos were all fairly popular. Grace scolded down to the comments despite Simon's warning though most were positive or joking.

"This one says, 'Simon is hot but in the same way as the emo kid from Horton Hears a Who'." she read, barely containing her laughter. "It has 2.5k likes." she added, still laughing so hard breath escaped her. Simon looked over at her, concerned, before she caught her breath.

"I'm glad that you got a kick out of that one." he muttered.

"I'm going to like it." she said before doing just that.

"What, no don't like it. You're on the channel account." he said. Grace ignored him as she kept scrolling past the uninteresting comments. There were a few asking if they were a couple, something which Grace also elected to ignore. She likely would have continued for quite a while longer had she not gotten a text from her mother.

"Where are you?" the text read. It was at that moment that Grace remembered that she'd promised that she would go to dinner with her parents that night in order to discuss future prospects in terms of college.

"Ughhhhh." she groaned, annoyed at the current turn of events. Simon gave her a curious look and she explained the situation. "I told my parents I'd have dinner with them tonight and I completely forgot." she explained. Simon nodded.

"That sucks." he said sympathetically.

"I know." she responded before starting on a text in response. "I am at the library with Simon. We are both studying." she lied. Grace held her breath and hoped that her mother wouldn't ask for proof.

"We were supposed to have dinner tonight." she said as reminder and Grace let out a sigh of relief that she'd accepted the story without question.

"I'm sorry, I forgot, I'll be there right away." she texted and Grace expected that to be the end of the conversation as she began putting her personal effects in her bag only to be surprised when the phone buzzed again.

"Bring Simon. The reservations have been pushed back to seven, don't be late." her mother had texted. Grace wanted to scream but instead elected to take a deep breath and turn towards her friend.

"Hey, so-" Simon cut her off.

"What do you need from me?" he asked expectantly but amused. Grace let out a defeated sigh and gave him the rundown.

"How does me giving you a makeover so that we can go to dinner with my parents in an hour sound?" she asked. Simon let out a dry laugh.

"It sounds awful, but I'm going to do it anyway." he said honestly. Grace smiled and did her typical making Simon look normal procedure. After he'd changed clothes he looked her over and raised a concern.

"Are you going to wear that to dinner?" he asked. Grace had on the typical pastel fair that her parents couldn't stand and called gaudy.

"Can I change in your bathroom?" she asked. "And before you ask, yes I do keep a pair of boring clothes in my bag." she explained. Simon nodded and Grace walked into the bathroom to change her clothes. Upon exiting she and Simon exchanged a look and he blushed, something that was made obvious by his overwhelming paleness. Grace smirked at his reaction and teased him.

"You think I'm pretty when I dress normal?" she asked with an air of playfulness in her voice. Simon, never one to be out done quickly gave a response despite his reaction.

"I always think you're pretty." he shot back and Grace felt her face grow hot. Now it was Simon's turn to smirk at her. "Now we're both flustered." he said victoriously. Grace casually rolled her eyes.

"Let's go to dinner." she said before grabbing his arm and making their way to the car. Upon arriving at the restaurant Grace did her best to give a general rundown of what he would need to know. "Alright so, I've already quizzed you on what utensils are for what things, I've already told you how to order, so just remember the fake life we've crafted for you and try to control your overwhelming crush on me." The last part was said as seriously as the rest of the information though it was a joke.

The two entered into the restaurant and walked up to the hostess who took them to the table upon hearing the name on the reservations. As they approached the table Grace could see her parents sitting there and having a conversation that stopped promptly upon seeing her something that clued Grace into the fact that the conversation was about her. The two sat down and Simon gave handshakes with the proper Sir and Ma'am monikers he'd been taught.

"Nice of you to join us, Grace." her mother said and Grace bit her tongue because the tone of that comment had set the mood for the entire evening. She simply nodded and gave a smile which made her feel sick to her stomach.

"Of course, I wouldn't want to miss dinner." she offered. Grace desperately hoped that this would be enough to steer the conversation to another topic.

"Well don't get too excited for dinner, you'll still need to fit into a prom dress you know." her mother added casually. That comment infuriated Grace for multiple reasons. The first was obviously that it was a rude and degrading thing to say but the second was that, like with her mother's threat to kick her out, Grace knew it wasn't true. Grace knew that her mother didn't actually think that she was in danger of not fitting into a dress. But her mother knew acting like she did would upset her and that was why she said it.

Grace wanted to get up from the table and leave at that moment. Under the table Simon hesitantly gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and Grace allowed it because it calmed her down enough to laugh off the unwanted comment. Simon decided to do her another favor and changed the subject. Turning to her father he addressed him respectfully.

"So, Mr. Monroe, sir what do you do for work." he asked. There was no way he could have known it but Simon had asked the exact correct question. Her mother did not like to interrupt her father and her father could and would talk about his job for hours because it was the type of thing that was important to him. He started and went on for a little while but before Grace could regain her footing in the conversation and recharge after the draining comments from her mother something happened.

"You know I love hearing you talk about work, but we did have this dinner for a reason love." her mother said interrupting her father's speech. Grace felt her throat dry as both of her parents' eyes became trained on her as her mother spoke. "So, as we've mentioned, me and your father have picked out a few colleges we want you to attend and we'd like to discuss some of the options." she began before listing off the names of a few top schools. Grace frowned as the list grew longer and more prestigious.

"My grades aren't good enough to get into those schools." Grace said curiously. Her mother waved her off.

"Don't worry about things like that, we've got it all taken care of, that's the way of the world." she said casually. Grace's eyes narrowed.

"Mom you can't manipulate people to get me into a better college than I'm eligible for, that's not right." she said seriously. Her mother let out a groan.

"Can you please not do this Grace?" she asked frustrated. Grace tried to keep calm as she asked for clarity.

"Don't do what?" Grace questioned. Her mother let out another long suffering sigh before gesturing at her up and down.

"Don't do this, get all dramatic and irrational. I swear I invited your boyfriend because I hoped that you'd at least behave yourself in front of him." she said with an edge in her voice.

"Behave myself?" Grace asked more aggressively than she'd intended. Her mother's eyes narrowed at the sharpness in her tone.

"Yes, behave yourself. Because right now you are acting like a child. I hoped that you'd at least have the good sense not to embarrass yourself in front of him but if you want to make a scene in this restaurant I have no problem doing it for you." she said darkly before turning to Simon. "It's a miracle you put up with her, I mean if you think she's bad now you should have seen a few years ago when she wouldn't stop going on about some magic train, we thought she was crazy." Grace stood up quickly and shook the table a bit as she did.

"I'm going home." she said before walking off from the table. As soon as she was sure that she was far enough away from her mother to not be heard the tears began flowing freely from her eyes. Grace walked out into the brisk night air and stood against the wall of the restaurant crying. She heard footsteps approaching her and looked up to see Simon.

"Are you okay?" he asked though it was clear he knew the answer.

"I don't know why she does this to me. I should be better than this but I'm not. I'm standing outside of this restaurant crying and she's inside and fine because she won, she always wins and I-" Grace couldn't even finish her thought when she started crying again.

"She's wrong, wrong about the train, wrong about the world, and she's wrong about you. You are not irrational and you're not dramatic. You deserve to be happy." he said seriously. Grace stared at him through the tears in her eyes and threw her arms around him in a hug.

"Thank you." she said as Simon hugged her back. "I need this." she buried her face into his shirt and felt for a moment like her mother hadn't won this time.


	9. Deus Ex Machina

Grace wasn’t sure how long she stood there letting Simon comfort her but she knew it had been too long. Neither of her parents were going to bother to check on her which she suspected. She figured they’d probably finish dinner and then go home. She didn’t plan to be there when they did.

“Let’s go for a drive.” she said and Simon nodded as they walked towards the car. Grace exchanged glances with the driver’s seat before tiredly handing him the keys. “You drive.” she said and Simon didn’t protest as he climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Where are we headed?” he asked and Grace wished she could give him an answer. Despite her lack of a response he started the car and began driving anyway. They drove mostly in circles. Grace placed her head against the window and stared at the few stars that could be seen on such a cloudy night. Neither of them bothered to touch the radio and the silence settled in the car, not as eerie, but almost comforting. It might have stayed quiet a bit longer had it not been for the sound of a train rumbling on in the distance.

Grace shot up and then calmed herself down. Trains were everywhere, hearing one wasn’t a big deal. Still, she hadn’t been the only one caught off guard as Simon had done the same upon hearing the sound. Perhaps both of them were a bit too sensitive to their fears and that was the cause of the reaction. That answer was enough for Grace and she went to lay her head down against the window once again until she made a realization. The train was getting closer, and they weren’t near train tracks.

“Simon, look!” she said grabbing his shoulder and gesturing towards the ground in front of their car. Sure enough there was no train track as the sound of the train became louder and closer. The two looked at each other and Simon fished his phone from his pocket hoping to record something that could be useful as proof. The two sat there with baited breath hoping for any sort of conclusive evidence as the sounds seemed to indicate the train was almost there. And nothing happened. The sounds of the train suddenly faded to sound farther away.

It was as if the train had skipped right past them to the other side of their car and was now powering on away from them. Simon let out a sigh as he put his phone away having seen nothing of interest and Grace wondered if she’d simply imagined what she’d heard. She settled back into the seat and glanced at Simon. No, she’d heard it, they both had. A piece of paper danced in the wind past Grace’s window and for a reason she couldn’t decipher she rolled the window down and grabbed it. 

“What is it?” Simon asked as he turned on the light so she could better read.

“International Train Show, Markum St, March 17th.” she read off. The flyer also included drawings of two trains, one a gilded luxury train with a red carpet. The other was an old coal powered train with smoke pouring out of the top. It wasn’t lost on Grace that the first train was the one she’d boarded and the second was Simon’s based on his reaction to the flyer.

“That can’t be a coincidence, right?” he asked. And Grace nodded in response.

“If this is a coincidence then everything is a coincidence.” Grace concluded. “This is a sign from the train, it’s giving us a warning.” Simon raised an eyebrow

“What do you mean by that?” he asked and Grace started to explain but hesitated and said something different instead.

“It would probably be easier to explain on the corkboard.” she offered and understanding what she meant Simon drove them back to his house. Both gave quick greetings to his mother before dashing to the room and setting up the camera. Grace took the flyer and put it in the center of the board. Simon sat down as she began to give her explanation of what this all meant. “The train’s goal is to pick up people it see’s as damaged and to fix them. As we know it’s methods for this and how it decides what constitutes being fixed isn’t great but that’s what it does.”

“If it was actually successful in it’s goal of fixing people I highly doubt that we’d be here obsessing over a magic train instead of doing normal stuff.” Simon assessed and Grace nodded in agreement.

“The train only appears to people who it thinks are in need of being picked up and it doesn’t want to be seen which begs the question, why would it give us a specific place to find it?” Grace questioned as she added another picture to the corkboard. “The reason is simply, the train wants to put us back on it, but it knows it can’t lure us through conventional means so it’s using unconventional means.” she said as her explanation. Simon nodded and gave a recap of what she’d just explained.

“So essentially, the train is using the fact that we want to find it to lure us back into its radius so that it can supposedly fix us.” he said.

“Basically.” Grace added, flopping onto his bed casually.

“And our plan here is what?” Simon asked. “To walk directly into it’s trap?” Grace shrugged at his sarcastic question.

“Do you have a better plan?” she asked and Simon opened his mouth before closing it because she knew as well as he did that the answer to that question was no. “That's what I thought.” she said self-satisfied.

“You know, there isn’t just one Markum Street, how do we know which one the flyer is referring to?” he asked and now it was Grace’s turn to pause because she didn’t have an answer. Now it was Simon’s turn to look smug and self-satisfied. 

“Well, if I remember correctly you made a comprehensive list of all the places the train was unlikely to visit, so why don’t you retrieve it so we know which Markum Streets to cross off?” she asked and Simon obliged. They left the camera running with Simon assuring Grace that he’d edit out all of the boring parts of them going through street names and the like. Neither intended to pull an all-nighter but as the list of street names grew on and they crossed more off it was clear that was what had happened.

“It’s two am.” Grace muttered to herself as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. “I feel like I’m dying.” she said, powering through a yawn. Simon chuckled and sipped at his coffee which Grace had been forced to watch, horrified, as he brewed with Monster.

“If you would just drink some you would feel fine.” he offered. Grace rolled her eyes.

“Your right, then I would look like I was dying instead.” she shot back and Simon faked pain over her retort.

“I’ll have to keep that in mind when I finish all the work while you sleep on the floor.” he offered in response. Grace dug her phone from her purse.

“I have twenty three missed calls from my mother.” she noted dully. Normally, such information would have been enough to kill Grace on the spot but either from the rush of having a real lead on the train or from the sheer tiredness she couldn’t bring herself to feel anything other than apathy at the development. Simon on the other hand looked utterly terrified at the news.

“Is she going to kill you? Is this the last time I’m ever going to see you?” he asked with a combination of humor and genuine nervousness in his voice. Grace shrugged.

“Probably. I should go home.” she explained grabbing her purse and keys from Simon’s desk with the intention of driving home. As she did Simon watched her and seeing how tired she was made an offer.

“You of course don’t have to listen to me or anything, but driving tired is really dangerous so if you want you can stay here overnight.” he said nervously. Even as tired as she was Grace was able to enjoy the way Simon managed to look everywhere in the room except her when making the offer.

“Are you trying to get me in even more trouble?” she asked teasingly. Simon quickly shook his head and waved his hands.

“No, not even a little. I just want you to be safe and everything.” even though it was possibly the most corny thing she’d ever heard Grace couldn’t help the warmth in her checks at the comment.

“Aww, you care about me.” she said. “And don’t worry about me getting in trouble. I was just teasing you, she’s mad at me right now and she’ll still be mad at me in a few hours.” Grace explained casually. “Is your mom going to be okay with it?” she asked. Simon waved off her concerns.

“She’ll be fine with it, I’m sure she’d also prefer you stay here and live over trying to drive and risking your life.” he offered and Grace nodded. “You can sleep on the couch, I’ll show you where the blankets are.” he said and Grace took the opportunity to poke fun at him.

“What, no offer to share the bed?” she said laughing and Simon chuckled giving a retort.

“I don’t think you’d enjoy it, I’ll kick you in my sleep.” he said seriously which made the comment even more funny. Simon gave her a blanket from the closet and directed her towards the couch. Grace yawned and stretched and Simon made a comment.

“Are you going to be comfortable sleeping in that?” he questioned. Grace rolled her eyes and gave a response.

“No, but I wasn’t exactly planning for a sleepover so this is what I’m working with.” she said humorously. In all honesty she wasn’t looking forward to sleeping in the dress she’d worn to dinner but there wasn’t really another option so she’d power through it like someone having to sleep in jeans. Simon opened his mouth and started to say something.

“You can borrow-” he began before cutting himself off something which was of a great relief to Grace because they both knew what he was going to say and Grace was so tired that she might not have had a quippy response. She was so tired that she might have said yes and that wouldn’t have been okay because Grace and Simon were supposed to be platonic friends and had she said yes to the thing he was about to say Grace wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep considering them platonic friends.

“Goodnight.” Grace said abruptly and Simon stood there awkwardly for a moment likely also feeling the same tension in the atmosphere. Grace wondered if he’d stopped himself because he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable or if he’d stopped because he knew as well as she did that he almost crossed the invisible barrier of friendship that let them be able to act so freely around each other.

“Goodnight.” Simon said as he retreated upstairs and Grace pondered if he was going to keep thinking about that moment because even though she didn’t want to she was sure that she was going to. She laid down on the couch under the blanket and thought about how Simon had come to check on her when her parents had not. On the face of it that wasn’t a significant moment. She hadn’t expected her parents to interrupt their meal to deal with her and Simon was her friend so of course he’d checked on her. She’d have done the same for him.

But when he’d held her, when he’d told her that she wasn’t everything that her mother told her she was, Grace felt a kind of safety that she rarely felt. When they’d hugged Grace thought for just a split second that he might try to kiss her and break that feeling of safety but he hadn’t and of course he hadn’t, they were friends. Still, Grace felt her heart rate increase at the idea and she kept repeating that mantra in her head because Simon was her friend and she had to keep reminding herself of that and she didn’t know why.


	10. Anagnorisis

The next morning things had gone as Grace expected. She’d woken up, thanked Simon for allowing her to stay and left. His mother had offered her breakfast and she’d considered taking her up on it but ultimately decided against it. After all, there was no use in delaying the inevitable fight waiting for her at home. As she drove towards the center of conflict in her life she turned the radio up in the misguided hope that maybe it would drown out her thoughts. It didn’t, of course, and Grace began mentally rehearsing what she’d say.

Of course, she wouldn’t implicate Simon in any way, she still needed her parents to like him or else she’d have an entirely different can of worms to grapple with. She pulled up to the gate of her home and considered just turning around and driving into the sunset never to be seen again before shaking that thought from her head and pulled into the driveway parking her car. As she got out she half expected to see her mother standing on the porch in a robe, mug in hand waiting to chew her out.

She wasn’t, of course and Grace entered into the house and silently hoped that her mother would be out, giving her just the tiniest taste of freedom before it was ripped away from her possibly forever. The universe granted her no such luck as she saw her mother sitting casually on the living room couch. Grace could tell she’d heard her enter but her mother made no move to look at her or address her presence in any way. She’d force Grace to be the one to make the first move.

“I’m home.” she said quietly. Her mother paused the show she was pretending to watch and turned to look at her.

“You’re in the same clothes from last night, where have you been?” she asked and Grace prepared her answer.

“I stayed the night at a friend’s place.” she said confidently because it wasn't technically a lie.

“Your boyfriend?” her mother asked and Grace responded.

“No, Taylor.” she said. Grace felt bad about dragging someone who had nothing to do with the situation into her drama but her mother already hated Taylor and it wasn’t like he was allowed around the house anyway. She needed Simon to continue being seen as a paragon who was fixing her. Her mother looked somewhere between annoyed and furious.

“Of course you were over at some boy’s house and you didn’t even have the decency to make it your boyfriend. God Grace, tell me, is everything you do to embarrass me or is that just a side effect of your actions?” her mother asked. Grace remained calm.

“I didn’t want to stay over here because I didn’t want to get into a fight.” she explained. Her mother rolled her eyes.

“If you were really so concerned about not starting a fight maybe you’d consider not dressing so ridiculously, or not yelling at me and making a scene in restaurants, or not sleeping with random boys.” she said coldly. Grace rushed to her own defense.

“I didn’t sleep with him mom, why would you think I’d do that?” she asked annoyed. Of course her mother thought the worst of her.

“I don’t know Grace, these days I don’t know what you’ll do until you're doing it. You're eighteen years old and yet I feel as though I’m parenting a toddler.” her mother kept a low even tone as if they were in a public place and she was worried about people hearing them. Really, it was another ploy. As long as she kept her voice down any slight uptick in volume from Grace would be taken as an outburst. Grace at the very least wasn’t falling for that trick again and kept the same low even tone.

“I assure you it won’t happen again.” Grace explained. 

“I know it won’t, because I’m taking your car.” she said calmly gesturing for the keys which Grace promptly handed over. This almost got a rise out of Grace. Almost.

“Ok, that's fine.” she said calmly though internally she was panicking as she was likely going to have to rely on the help of others, namely Simon, in order to research the train. That was if she was ever allowed out of this house again. Her mother raised an eyebrow at her reaction and as if still determined to get a rise out of her daughter she looked at her for something else to pick on. She set her sights on the flyer hanging out of Grace’s purse. Snatching the thing and reading it over she looked at her daughter with annoyance and disgust.

“Still with the trains Grace? I thought you’d gotten over this particular delusion and yet you're still pursuing it.” she put her head in her hands and let out a long suffering sigh as if her daughter had done her the greatest disservice in the world. “Is it drugs? Is that way you act this way, because me and your father gave you too much freedom and you got into drugs?” this finally garnered a more dramatic reaction.

“What? No, i'm not on drugs, it's just a train show.” she said at a slightly louder volume, though she refrained from dipping into yelling. Her mother finally bothered to stand up from the couch.

“Well how am I supposed to tell when you consistently insist on resisting every bit of normalcy and support I try to inject into your life? Why wouldn’t you start doing drugs as a symptom of your obsession with acting irrationally?” her mother said frustrated. At the very least she had been the one to raise her voice first, and that gave Grace license to match her tone, or at least it did in principle.

“I don’t have an obsession with acting irrationally, I act in a way you don’t like and I don’t get why it bothers you so much! Why are you so obsessed with trying to make me act like you?” she questioned. Grace was surprised at the swiftness and emotionality that came with her mother’s response.

“You are like me! You can try to mask it with awful clothes and by having outbursts and by running away but you are just like me! I am trying to save you the trouble of trying to be different because you’ll end up just like I did and the quicker you accept it the happier you will be!” her mother yelled. Grace thought she could see tears in her eyes but realized it was simply her eyes narrowing in frustration. She had never once seen her mother lose her cool, every time they’d argue even when she got loud in the end she’d turn on that calm cool voice and act like anything she’d said was irrelevant.

But in her words Mrs. Monroe had betrayed her true feelings, the reasons why she behaved as she did. To her Grace was nothing more than an extension of herself, the youthful rebellious side who’d yet to accept the real world. Controlling her daughter, reining her in, was doing her a favor, preparing her for reality. To make Grace into a version of herself was to finally off the part of her that never accepted her role in society. In Mrs. Monroe’s mind, she was saving her daughter from having to do it to her own child years down the line. 

Grace looked long and hard at her mother for any sign of self reflection, any sign of remorse. She searched her mother’s face and begged to see anything there but the selfishness and the bitterness that her statements indicated as her sole modes of interaction with her daughter. In her face she found only what her words conveyed, Grace Monroe was nothing to her but an immature brat who’d yet to learn her place. Until she fell in line that was all she’d ever be to her mother.

“I’m going to my room to study.” she said to no one in particular as her mother turned her attention back to pretending to watch television in order to ignore her daughter and Grace walked to her room taking a shower and changing into her typical attire deciding that she might as well wear the clothing she enjoyed if she was going to be trapped. Flopping on the bed and staring at the ceiling she tried to rationalize the feelings about her mother that swam around in her head. Grace quickly texted her friend group letting them know about the situation.

“How sad, Grace will have to take the limo instead of driving” Delila texted alongside a violin and a crying emoji. Of course she was right, Grace still had access to a personal driver, she’d have no issue getting somewhere like school. But it also meant that there was no way she could go anywhere her parents wouldn’t approve of as she had no doubt the drivers were being paid extra to snitch on any locations she requested that weren't pre-approved. Essentially, she was locked out of any locations that weren’t school, home, or the library.

She texted Simon the news of her imprisonment, as well as the story she’d used to keep his name clear of all ties to her so called outbursts.

“that sucks” he responded with his characteristic lowercase letters and lack of punctuation. “how are we going to keep investigating” he questioned, or Grace assumed it was a question as he once again failed to use punctuation.

“You’re going to bust me out, obviously.” she explained and she could practically sense Simon raising his eyebrows from behind the screen.

“i thought you wanted them to like me” he said and Grace explained what was obvious to her.

“That's why you’re not going to get caught dummy.” she said 

“ah obviously” he responded. “and what is the plan for this” he asked. Grace quickly texted back.

“That's for you to figure out, just be here before ten so we can film.” she shot back, shirking the responsibility for figuring out a practical way to sneak out. She turned off her phone and rolled over onto her stomach looking around her room. It was almost like a museum of Grace Monroe, multiple items that indicated interests of past iterations of herself could be seen, stacked on bookshelves and packed away into closets. Her violin from grade school, her ballet shoes last worn in the eighth grade, and her paint supplies which were still in use.

She grew and changed so much in all of that time and not once had she ever felt like someone good enough for her mother. Whether she strived to be a perfect copy of her, or broke away and fought against every attempt to be held to her standards. She’d never been enough, and she was sure she’d never be. There was almost a comfort in that realization, the fact that she’d never be the daughter her mother wanted because all her mother wanted was unwavering compliance. 

She’d spent so long questioning why her mother treated her the way she did, asking herself if she was somehow to blame. Knowing that she wasn’t was like a weight being lifted off of her shoulders. Grace let out a deep sigh before getting off of the bed and grabbing one of her textbooks. She was still committed to education after all, not for the sake of her mother but for the sake of herself. Grace was absorbed in her work, only broken from her state by a text hours later. The message from Simon simply read, “window”

Grace walked over to her bedroom window and looked down to find Simon standing beneath it frantically waving his arms. Grace could barely hold back a laugh. “How did you even get past the gate?” she called down and Simon gave his response.

“Do you want an answer or do you want to film an episode?” he asked and Grace considered it for a moment before raising her own objection.

“How do you expect me to get down from up here?” she asked once again looking down.

“Just jump, I'll catch you.” he said and at this Grace really did laugh.

“There is no way in hell your thin ass e-boy arms aren’t going to break trying to catch me.” she said through her own laughter. Simon rolled his eyes.

“I swear I’m stronger than I look.” he said and Grace gave him a long look before agreeing.

“Fine, but if you die, at your funeral I’m walking up to the podium just to say I told you so.” she said as she began climbing out of the window. Simon responded as she did this.

“Really, at my funeral you're going to go in front of my poor grieving mother and say that?” he asked, trying to paint a morbid picture, something which Grace squarely rejected.

“Your mother will thank me, she deserves to know her son died being a dumbass.” she said before taking a deep breath and hopping down while closing her eyes. She completely expected to hit the ground or to land on a particular pale idiot. To her surprise neither of those things happened as Simon easily caught her in his arms. She opened her eyes and looked at him. “You actually caught me?” she said caught off guard. Simon smiled.

“Yeah, I told you I would.” he said before smirking. “I guess you could say that I swept-” Grace gave him a look that indicated continuing with that joke would mean the termination of their friendship and he shut up though he kept that same goofy look on his face.

“You can finish the joke.” she said eventually, sighing.

“I guess you could say that I swept you off your feet.” he said laughing through his own awful excuse for humor. Grace pretended that she didn’t find it cute.

“Let’s just go film the episode.” she said exasperated.

“You know I'm still holding you, right?” Simon pointed out and Grace realized at that moment that she’d gotten a little too comfortable in Simon’s arms and looked away embarrassed.

“I’m sorry let me get down-” she started before Simon shook his head.

“It’s cool, I’ll carry you to the car.” he said and then started doing that before Grace could make any more protests. Grace knew that she’d complain about it later because she felt like it was the only way to preserve their friendship. But that was something to be done later. In that moment Grace cuddled up against Simon and didn’t even pretend not to enjoy it.


	11. Third Act Twist

As the date of the train’s return grew closer Grace threw all of her effort into preparing. Who knew how the train would appear, or in what form. In addition they’d need some sort of proof that it wasn’t a normal train within the video though her and Simon had already done enough work on ensuring that would be fine. Most important to Grace however was what they would do after they had proof. This was a conversation she had with Simon one afternoon as they sat in the public library.

“Once we’ve proved the existence of the train, who do we report it to?” she asked casually and Simon gave his best answer.

“I don’t know, the police?” he questioned and Grace gave him a long hard look while weighing the pros and cons of pushing him out of his chair for giving her such a ridiculous answer.

“Hi 911? I’d like to report a magic train that kidnaps people, don’t worry I have a video that proves it.” she mocked while doing her best impression of Simon so as to more effectively mock him.

“Well I don’t know Grace, who do you suggest we call, the X-Files division of the FBI? The Men In Black?” he suggested teasingly something which was met with a chorus of shushing from the other patrons of the library. Grace smirked and shushed him as well despite talking at a similar volume.

“You’ve got to be quiet, this is a library, didn’t anyone teach you any manners?” she said playfully and Simon rolled his eyes.

“And why are we in a library again?” he questioned as he shoved his nose into a book in order to avoid the judgmental gazes of the librarians.

“It’s one of the three places that my driver will take me without reporting it back to my mother as suspicious.” she explained. “Plus, it’s a good place to research conspiracy theories and all that. All of the people here are middle aged moms so busy trying not to look suspicious checking out Fifty Shades of Grey that they don’t notice that you’ve got thirty books about train theories on your desk.” she said gesturing around the place.

“That still doesn’t explain why you forced me to dress in my basic bitch clothes.” he muttered and Grace gave her explanation for this as well.

“My driver is likely watching to make sure that I don’t meet up with anyone my mother finds objectionable and you at your most Tim Burton-esque is objectionable to anyone with eyes; I can’t risk anyone seeing you.” she joked as she gave a purposefully over-dramatic response.

“You can’t risk anyone seeing me? I can’t risk anyone seeing me. I feel practically naked like this, how dare you make me go outside without my protective layer of e-boy clothing?” he questioned jokingly. Grace smiled.

“Leaning into it now are we?” she asked and he chuckled and nodded.

“Trying to, is it working?” he responded and she thought for a moment and began answering.

“Nah, you’re trying too hard. And anyway you’ll live it won’t be long.” she said as she skimmed through yet another book in the hope that someone would have documented the train before and could give insight on what to do about it. Simon took her hand and started begging.

“But Grace, the aesthetic, you don’t understand how important it is for me to keep up the aesthetic.” he complained while still holding her hand, something Grace ignored along with the bubbly feeling of excitement that came along with it.

“Actually I do, you were smoking a fake cigarette when we met remember?” she said, chuckling at the memory. “And anyway we all make sacrifices for our goals, I don’t know if you’ve forgotten but I have to pretend to be dating you so we can pull this off.” she explained. Simon scoffed at this.

“First of all, at least you still get to dress like Rainbow Brite while you do it. Second of all that's not that big of a sacrifice.” he said and Grace looked at him up and down before returning to her book.

“It is.” she said plainly even though neither of them actually believed that to be true in the slightest. Grace sighed as she closed yet another book feeling no closer to having cracked the code on what to do about the train. As if having read her mind Simon casually offered what he thought the best course of action was after gathering evidence.

“Once we get our video let’s just post it and go from there; cross that bridge when we get to it.” he assed and partially because it was the most reasonable plan and partially because she didn’t feel like looking through anymore books she accepted this and closed the book she’d been reading.

“Sounds good.” she said before gesturing to the pile of books laid out on the desk in front of them. “Now help me put these away and then you’ll be free to go home and be as committed to the aesthetic as you want to be.” she added and Simon let out a groan but gathered some of the books in his arms and started putting them away. As they walked out of the library he casually proposed an idea.

“Do you want to get something to eat?” he asked. “We can sit in the McDonald’s parking lot and argue about whether or not Fight Club is a good movie.” he offered and Grace let out a genuine laugh at this.

“As much as I'd love to, you know I’m still grounded. But I'll save you the trouble of the argument and tell you that the answer is no, and I'm right.” she said smugly. Despite the laughter between them Simon still looked a bit worried.

“Are you even going to be able to get out on the seventeenth?” he asked, concerned and Grace thought for a moment.

“The seventeenth? What is that, like, next month?” she questioned and he nodded. “It’ll be fine, I’ll be free by then.” she assured him and Simon walked with her to the car. “What are you doing?” she asked as he did so.

“That guy is your driver right?” he asked, gesturing towards the man standing in front of the limo on the other side of the parking lot.

“Yeah.” she responded.

“Well then he thinks I’m your boyfriend, and what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t ensure you got to your car safely?” he asked. Grace let out a laugh.

“It’s four thirty in the afternoon, the sun is still out.” she said humorously.

“Hey you never know, I heard about this kid who was kidnaped in the middle of the day from a gas station.” he said seriously but the look in his eyes betrayed who he was talking about. Grace didn’t raise another objection and took his hand doing her best to not be obvious about it. When he looked at her surprised she offered an explanation.

“What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t casually hold your hand while we walk?” she said and he nodded as they walked over. Her driver spoke on the phone frantically to someone and halted his conversation when she approached.

“I have to go, my wife is giving birth, can you get home on your own?” he asked. Grace was caught by surprise but assured him that he was free to go and congratulated him. Her and Simon stood there as the man drove off before looking at each other again.

“So,” Simon began. “Donnie Darko, good movie or great movie?” he asked smugly and Grace faked indignation while rolling her eyes.

“You better buy me some food before you subject me to this conversation.” she said as the two walked towards Simon’s car.

“You’re the one who's rich, if anything you should be paying for our dates.” he teased.

“We don’t go on dates.” Grace shot back as she climbed into the passenger seat of Simon’s beat up old truck and switched on the radio. “Where are we going?” she questioned as he started the car.

“First, I’m going home to change clothes,” he announced and Grace let out a groan. “The aesthetic waits for no one Grace.” he said in response as he drove towards his house. As he did Grace riffled through his CDs to search for something worth putting on finally giving up on trying to decipher Simon’s awful taste in music and putting on Frank Ocean. After a stop at his house so that Simon could change clothes the two found themselves in the parking lot of some non-descript fast food place.

The two talked about movies, and music, and the train as they ate and laughed. Grace felt able to relax having already texted her mother that her driver had left and she and Simon had been stuck in traffic which she believed. And it was so easy in these moments with Simon, it was easy to pretend that this was what life was always going to be like. But behind the conversation about the train there was another one that neither of them was having. What would happen to them after they exposed it?

Their relationship was predicated on the need to find the train, if it hadn’t been for the train Grace couldn’t imagine that either of them would have become anything like they were. Nor could she imagine that they would be friends. And what about their fake relationship, that was set to expire after prom and Grace hated that she didn’t want it to. Grace opened her mouth to say something about them, about how she felt, but stopped herself. She didn’t know what she would've said and now she never would.

Maybe this was the right time to address everything that she felt, to lay her cards on the table and to tell Simon that she wanted to keep hanging out with him after all of this. Maybe this was even the time to tell him that she actually might have feelings for him that went deeper than friendship. Unfortunately, Grace wouldn’t get the chance as her phone buzzed and she checked it as a distraction from those thoughts. It was an email from the school, sent out to all students, an announcement about prom.

They’d set a date; March 17th. Grace stared at the phone dumbfounded for a moment and tried to determine if this were some cruel prank the universe was playing on her. Reading further into the email confirmed that evidently it was not, the one event she couldn’t afford to miss was on the same day as the arrival of the train. She stared at her phone for a while longer before finally turning to Simon to give him the news.

“Hypothetically, how would you feel if I couldn’t come and help you catch the train?” she asked. Simon looked caught off guard but responded anyway.

“Hypothetically? I’d be super confused and probably upset. Why do you ask?” he questioned and Grace sighed before giving her answer.

“They just announced the date for prom and it’s the same day.” she said. Simon looked thoughtful and nodded before responding.

“Okay, how are you going to get out of it?” he asked and Grace raised an eyebrow at this.

“What do you mean?” she questioned.

“You’re not actually considering going to prom over catching the train?” he asked and Grace looked annoyed.

“I’m not considering it, I'm doing it.” she said seriously and Simon gave her a long hard stare.

“Grace, we’ve been working on catching the train for months, are you really going to give up on all of that?” he questioned and Grace looked away from him.

“I’m not giving it up, it’s not like I want to do it but you know how my parents are, how my mom is. All those months we’ve been working on catching the train she’s been working on making prom the center of my universe, how do you think she’ll react if I skip out?” Grace questioned.

“Who cares how she’ll react? Aren’t you the one who said if she’s going to be mad at you it doesn’t matter if she’s mad at you?” he questioned and Grace cringed at the butchering of her quote though the point was still the same.

“It’s not like that, this is way bigger than me coming home late Simon this is me skipping out on what she’s been planning for me for months.” she explained though it was clear that she was becoming slightly distressed.

“So what, you’re going to let our only opportunity to catch the train slip away because you don’t want to upset your mom? Why do you care so much about what she’s been planning for you?” he questioned and Grace answered quickly.

“Because I still want her to love me! I don’t care if she's mad at me or whatever but goddamn it Simon she’s still my mom and no matter how hard I try I still want her to love me and if I don’t do this she won’t love me anymore!” she said practically on the verge of tears. “And who said that our opportunity was slipping away? I’m not forcing you to go with me.” she muttered under her breath.

“Of course I’m still going to go with you.” Simon said seriously and Grace looked at him with a mix of confusion and annoyance.

“Why, why would you let what we’ve put months of work into go to waste?” she asked seriously.

“Because I’m in lo-” Simon almost answered too quickly, almost said something that would have shattered whatever sense of normalcy was left between them. “I promised you. I’m still going to go because I promised you.” was the answer he gave instead. The two of them sat in silence for what felt like hours but was likely only minutes. They both knew what he had almost said but neither knew what they would have done had he said it. Now neither of them ever would.

“Take me home Simon.” Grace said quietly and he obliged as the two drove in silence towards her house. As they arrived at the gate Grace reached for the car door and Simon said something.

“Grace,” he began and she stopped and looked at him. Simon looked like he was running through a million different scenarios in his head before settling in what to say. “I’m sorry for getting upset.” he said and Grace nodded.

“It’s okay, we did work really hard for this, it sucks I can’t be there for it.” she said. Simon shook his head.

“I’m serious about what I said, I promised you I’d be there so I will be.” he responded and Grace gave him a smile that was a bit softer than her usual one, but was still her’s nonetheless. As she went to exit the car once more Simon added a final thing. “I really do....” he trailed off for a moment before changing his statement. “I want you to be happy.” he said. And Grace let out a small tired sigh.

“That makes two of us.” she said before hopping out of the car and walking towards her house.


	12. Climax

Grace stared at the dress that hung on her door with an intensity that couldn’t be matched. It was beautiful, everyone who’d seen her wear it said she looked beautiful in it. Grace hated that fact, she hated that dress. Today she’d give up her one chance at exposing the truth about the train, and lose her one chance to save others from that fate. When Grace put on that dress she was abandoning her chance at closure for the love of a mother who resented her. And Simon insisted on doing the same.

The worst part about it was that the dress was beautiful. It’s white flowers and shimmering detailing paired with the soft blue color of the dress looked amazing and it made her feel beautiful. She didn’t want to feel beautiful, she wanted to feel bitter and angry and that dress wouldn’t allow her to. Grace mentally rehearsed what would occur that night. She’d walk downstairs and see Simon, who was abandoning his chance at closure for her, then they’d take pictures, be directed off into the limo, and awkwardly stay at the dance all night knowing there was something more important they should be doing.

Grace had begged to be allowed to at least take her own car now that she had the keys back but of course she’d been shot down, just as she had when she’d requested to pick her own dress. She remembered the look on her mother’s face when she brought it to her, how proud of herself she was. You would’ve thought she’d sewn the dress herself the way she went on about how perfect it looked on her. It was probably the most compliments she’d gotten from her in a long time. Grace didn’t want to think about the train, or the dress or prom, so she texted Simon.

“Are you excited for tonight?” she texted. Simon responded shortly after.

“define excited” he texted back and Grace rolled her eyes.

“At least after this you don’t have to pretend to be my boyfriend anymore.” she texted. She cringed at herself as she hit send and waited for a response that never came. She had been left on read because of course she had. Grace laid on her back and stared up at the ceiling, searching for something to make her feel better about everything that had occurred. It was torture, the knowledge that she was doing all of this because after everything she still wanted to please her mother. Grace felt weaker than she ever had on the train.

Giving up on finding any peace in her own mind Grace put on Arlo Park and took a nap, praying that sleep would bring a sense of clarity in terms of her choices. She was awoken hours later by the movements of her mother and several other women in her bedroom. Opening her eyes she was greeted by her mother and a team of stylists. “What are you doing?” she questioned and her mother plastered on her camera ready smile.

“Prom starts in two hours Grace and we need to get you ready.” she said in that sweet voice that she reserved for company. Grace rolled her eyes mentally.

“Right, and why do I need an entire team of people for this?” she asked. Her mother let out a sigh.

“Well someone has got to do something with your hair.” she muttered and Grace’s eyes narrowed.

“You said I could do my own hair.” she responded and her mother hummed as she looked over the dress and waved her daughter off.

“Did I? Well it has to be done either way.” she said casually. She turned around to look at her daughter and raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to make a scene over this are you?” she asked. Grace’s mind raced with all of the things she wanted to say in that moment. Grace had given up the only opportunity she might ever have to find the train so that she could retain the few crumbs of affection she got from this woman and she was still looked down on. At that moment Grace realized that any love she could get from her mother wasn’t love she wanted.

“Of course not.” she said and outwardly she seemed to be on her mother’s side. She allowed the team of stylists to direct her on what products to use for her face and to do her makeup. They put her locs into a bun which was certainly better than what she thought they were going to do. She allowed herself to act as a doll to be dressed and preened for her mother’s entertainment and when they concluded Grace looked in the mirror and she was, of course, beautiful.

But she absolutely was still Grace Monroe. Her mother could hire the biggest, best team of stylists in the world and she’d still be who she was, who her mother couldn’t stand. There was a real joy in that. Her mother could make her look like a prom queen but she would still be Grace Monroe. She remembered how her mother had practically screamed that the two of them were one and the same. Looking at herself now Grace knew it wasn’t true. Her mother addressed her as she looked in the mirror.

“You look amazing.” he mother said and Grace had to bite her tongue so as to not say ‘I know’. “Just like I did at your age.” her mother mused. She patted her daughters head softly and the fakeness of the gesture made Grace almost recoil from the touch. Instead she let out a sigh and almost allowed the sick feeling to over take her before hearing her father from downstairs. 

“Grace, your date is here!” he announced and she chose to ignore the sick feeling that had overcome her after the mother’s comment and walk downstairs instead. As she descended the stairs her mother rushed out in front of her to join her father and she quickly noticed they’d had an entire area set up for a photo shoot. She shuddered at the thought of how long it would take and instead turned her attention to Simon. He did look really attractive with his hair down and wearing the suit he’d chosen.

The suit actually looked fairly high quality and Grace wondered for a moment if Simon had saved up for it or borrowed it from a friend. She decided it didn’t matter much either way. Simon was looking at something on his phone but looked up when he heard her footsteps. After he’d ignored her text earlier Grace had been a little worried that he might not show up, or even worse that he might be mad at her. So she was in no way prepared for the look on Simon’s face when he caught sight of her.

She could barely describe the expression on his face. No word that she knew felt strong enough for the sheer amount of love that was projected across his face when he saw her. Grace almost wanted to look behind her to see what he was staring at that could possibly give that reaction. Maybe an angel had descended from the heavens to bestow it’s presence upon them. Her parents had been married for decades and never had either of them looked at the other that way. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs Simon complimented her immediately.

“You look gorgeous.” he said breathlessly and the earnestness of it all caught Grace so off guard she automatically responded with a joke.

“Starting early with the overbearing sincerity are we?” she asked, chuckling awkwardly and Simon continued looking at her like he was amazed that she was real.

“I’m serious, I mean, you always look amazing but you really do look gorgeous.” he said and finally Grace cracked and looked away embarrassed and flattered as she felt her face grow warm. 

“You look really good too.” she muttered before her mother corralled them into the area where photos would be taken. At the behest of her mother Simon put his arm around her and Grace leaned in closer to him and decided at that very moment that she was going to tell him how she felt without worrying about his reaction. And she wasn't going to make him pretend to be someone he wasn’t. After all, the reason she acquiesced to her mother’s requests was to preserve the fragile relationship that they had, now that she didn’t want it any more all of them were free from those expectations.

After what felt like hours finally the pictures were stopped and the two walked out to the limo. Simon opened the door for her but before entering Grace looked through her purse to make sure that she had everything she needed. As the two climbed into the limo Grace approached the driver and spoke to him. “Can you do me a huge favor and drop me off on 8th Street?” she asked. “I know my parents are probably paying you extra to tell them anywhere that I go but whatever they are paying you I’ll double it.” she added.

“Are you serious?” the driver asked, not uninterested. Grace pulled a wad of bills from her purse.

“As a heart attack.” she said and the driver paused for a moment before nodding and driving them to Grace’s requested location. As Grace returned to her seat Simon stared at her dumbfounded. 

“What is happening?” he asked confused and Grace laughed.

“We aren’t going to prom, we’re going to catch a train.” she said and Simon still looked utterly confused and caught off guard. Grace filled him in. “I realized that I don’t really care how my mom feels about me. I parked my car on 8th Street and now we are going to go take it and catch the train.” she explained. Simon looked at her a little longer before laughing.

“You are the most interesting person I’ve ever met in my life Grace.” he said chuckling. “Though, I do wish you’d told me, now I’m going to have to wear a suit to catch the train.” he explained and Grace laughed and shook her head.

“I’m doing it in heels and a dress, I don’t want to hear any complaints.” she responded and Simon smiled at this, seemingly agreeing. They arrived at the area where she’d parked her car and Grace gave the driver his money, thanking him as the two climbed into her vehicle. Grace drove towards the area they’d determined as the location where the train would arrive and she parked near where they thought it was likely to appear. Grace unbuckled her seat belt and reached for something in the backseat, handing Simon his camera.

“How did you get this?” he asked. 

“You left it in my car the last time we filmed, it’s how I got this idea.” she explained. Simon turned on the camera and began filming her. Grace rolled her eyes and looked away.

“Turn it off I’m not ready yet!” she joked pushing the camera from her face. Simon laughed and shook his head as he continued filming.

“You literally look amazing, you are absolutely ready.” he said ignoring her objections. Grace looked at him again and hated the fact that Simon looked so nice. She’d promised herself that she’d tell him how she felt regardless of his reaction and though she hadn’t anticipated doing it tonight something had slipped out of her mouth that she hadn’t expected to.

“What were you going to say to me the other day?” she asked, surprised when she said it. It surprised her so much because she knew what he was going to say, they both did. Maybe she wanted to know why he hadn’t said it, why he’d made no move to say it since.

“I don’t know what you're talking about.” Simon said after a beat camera dropping slightly. Grace gave him a serious look.

“The day we found out when prom was going to be held you almost said something to me and then you didn’t, what were you going to say.” she said seriously. Simon looked away from her, camera practically forgotten at this point as he shut it off. “Tell me the truth Simon.” she emphasized. They sat there in silence for a while and Grace thought he might just ignore what she’d asked of him.

“I was going to tell you that I’m in love with you.” he said quietly. “And I stopped because I knew it was stupid and the first thing you told me when you met was that you didn’t want a relationship and you have enough stuff going on in your life without having to deal with that.” Simon said slightly louder. “You deserve to have one uncomplicated relationship.” he said. Grace started quietly laughing before looking him in the eyes.

“Simon, I have plenty of uncomplicated relationships,” she began as she moved her face closer to his. “A for the record, I love you too.” she added. The two were frozen so close to each other for a moment before both moved in closer lips meeting each other in the middle. Grace was filled with a warmth that encompassed her entire body as she allowed herself to cross the lines of friendship that had been so fiercely guarded. How many times had this almost happened but hadn’t for reason or another?

None of that mattered now as Simon held her and the kiss was deepened. It was just the two of them, two people physically connecting with each other as they were already emotionally connected. The kiss likely would have continued on for even longer had it not been for the deafening sound of a train whistle nearby. The two jumped back just as they had before and Grace scrambled out of the car. Simon followed shortly after camera on and in tow as he recorded the lack of train tracks despite the oncoming train.

It’s lights shone through the dark street as it finally made itself seen, having taken the form of a fairly standard subway train, rounding a corner and traveling in front of the car. They’d done it, they’d captured the train on film. It passed the car a little further before the middle of the train was right in front of them and the train stopped abruptly. The whistle sounded again and the door slid open. Grace and Simon shared a look and slowly walked closer to the train hand and hand.

“If we get kidnapped I blame you.” Grace teased and Simon bantered back.

“I don’t care if I get kidnapped but there's no way in hell that the train is taking this camera.” he responded. An other worldly white light erupted from the doors of the train and it became even more blinding as they stood closer. When they were only a few feet away both were halted in their tracks as the light seemed to move slightly. Both watched in awe as a child fell from out of the doors onto the ground and the train’s doors shut behind her. Simon kept filming as the train sped away impossibly fast leaving the little girl on the ground in front of them.

Grace and Simon shared a look as both were frozen in shock and confusion. At that moment snow began falling, hard. As the snowfall increased Graced noticed the little girl had no shoes on as she stood up wobbly and held her head in her hands as if it hurt. This finally broke their trance as Grace walked over to the child.

“Are you okay?” she asked nervously.

“I’m Hazel, and it’s cold.” the girl said, teeth chattering. Grace looked to Simon again who shrugged at her.

“Do you want us to give you a ride home?” she asked and Hazel nodded, or at least Grace assumed it was a nod as the girl was shivering fairly intensely. Grace grabbed her hand and the three started walking back towards the car as the snow continued to fall harder. As Hazel’s shivering became more intense Simon rushed over and picked the girl up while the two ran to the car. Depositing her in the back seat Simon climbed back into the passenger seat while Grace retrieved a blanket for the girl and turned up the heat.

The combination of the blanket along with the heat seemed to be just what the girl needed as she dozed off in the backseat immediately. Grace took stock of everything that had just occurred and tried to find any explanation that made sense to her. Simon squeezed her hand to reassure her and he smiled at her.

“I have no idea what’s happening either, but we will figure this out.” he said. “Now, do you want to kiss again while the kid is asleep?” he asked, mostly joking. Grace laughed but quickly responded anyway.

“Absolutely yes, we found the train we’ve earned it.” she said, finally content.


	13. Conclusion

Grace had no idea where she was driving. She’d started driving and at this point she was hoping she would figure it out along the way. As she drove she took stock of everything that had occurred. First, her and Simon had kissed, which was amazing. Then they’d found the train and captured it on video, also amazing. And then a little girl had fallen out of it and was now sleeping in her backseat. Grace turned her head to look at the girl, named Hazel, who was still fast asleep. She took another look, this time at Simon in the passenger seat.

“What are we going to do?” he asked and Grace looked at him with a goofy face.

“There are quite a few things going on, you’ll have to be more specific.” she said and Simon clarified.

“About the little girl that we’ve kidnaped.” he said and Grace rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know what you're talking about, we haven’t kidnapped anyone.” she responded and Simon nodded.

“I know that, and you know that, but when the police pull us over I don’t think they’ll know that.” he explained and Grace waved him off.

“When she wakes up we’ll ask her about her parents and then we’ll take her home.” she asserted and Simon looked at her wearily.

“I mean, do you think she even knows that stuff? Kids forget details like that all of the time.” Simon said nervously. Grace parked the car on some random side road and put her hand on Simon’s shoulder.

“Listen, we’ll figure this out.” she said calmly. “We caught the train, we can do anything.” she added and at this Simon softened.

“You know, you’re really pretty when you're inspired like that.” he teased and Grace looked away embarrassed.

“Are you two going to start kissing again?” a voice from the backseat asked and both turned around to see Hazel wide awake. She was still wrapped in the blanket that Grace had given her and she looked more annoyed than anything which Grace supposed was an improvement from earlier.

“No, we won’t.” she promised before moving the conversation along. “Hazel, can you tell us where your parents are?” she asked. Hazel looked at her curiously before giving an answer.

“Tuba is on the train.” she said and Simon looked confused.

“Who’s Tuba?” he questioned and Hazel answered.

“She’s the one that takes care of me, isn’t that what a parent is?” she questioned and Grace whispered something to Simon.

“I think she’s talking about her denizen.” she said and Simon nodded in agreeance. Grace posed another question to Hazel to try and find out who her parents were off of the train. “Who took care of you before Tuba?” Grace asked and Hazel raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“What do you mean?” she asked and Simon attempted to clarify.

“Was the person who took care of you before you got on the train?” he said and Hazel looked even more confused.

“I don’t know, all of my memories are on the train.” she said and at that point both Grace and Simon felt that something was wrong.

“Hazel, how did you get off the train?” she questioned and Hazel looked nervous before answering.

“A lady came and took me from Tuba. She took me to a weird place with a talking ball. The ball told me that I was an anomaly so they kicked me off of the train.” she said tiredly. Her face fell as she shared the story, it was clear that it had been frightening for the little girl. Quietly, she began to cry. That crying was quickly replaced with violent shaking and the two watched as Hazel transformed into a humanoid turtle creature. Grace was sure that if she’d been driving she would have crashed.

Hazel didn’t seem to notice the change as she was still so involved in her crying that it hadn’t even registered to her. In that moment Grace had a choice to make and she fought with herself internally over if she would call attention to it or not. Eventually she elected not to as she reached out and comforted Hazel by patting her hair and gently reaffirming her. This greatly calmed Hazel down and she slowly returned to her normal form. Simon watched for a moment before starting to talk.

“Do you want to see something cool?” Simon asked and Hazel sniffled and nodded. Fishing his phone out of his pocket he handed the thing to Hazel and opened an app. “You have to match all of the colors, and when you do you win.” he expressed before showing her how to work it. Hazel’s eyes practically had stars in them as she played the game, something that luckily seemed to make her far more calm. Noticing that they were near a gas station Grace drove over to refill her tan. Simon insisted on pumping the gas and Grace stood near him as he did.

“Giving her your phone? Now that’s a good trick.” she said jokingly and Simon looked sheepish.

“I’ve got little cousins.” he explained and Grace nodded. She looked at Hazel who still sat, content in the backseat playing on the game and Grace felt something swell in her soul. Hazel reminded her of someone, or something. In her Grace saw all of the unspoiled potential of childhood mixed up with the obvious trauma that she’d had to endure. She walked over to the girl and tapped on the window, which Hazel rolled down.

“Do you want a snack?” Grace asked and the girl nodded so Grace went into the gas station properly grabbing some of the snack cakes sold near the counter and walking over to pay. It was as she paid that she registered the stares from the other patrons and remembered that she was still wearing a prom dress. Grace laughed internally, a girl in an incredibly expensive prom dress at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. After paying she returned to the car and passed out snacks.

“I haven’t had one of these in years.” Simon said in reference to the snack that Grace had just handed him. “My mom used to give me these and I’d eat them with hot chocolate.” he said wistfully.

“Ah, the wonders of childhood.” Grace said playfully as she gently mocked the seeming rapturous love he had for that memory. Both turned back to Hazel who looked confused at the topic of conversation.

“Hazel, have you ever had hot chocolate?” he questioned and Hazel gave him a confused look before shaking her head in response. “Do you want some?” he asked and Hazel nodded after seemingly thinking about it for a moment. Simon looked at Grace. “Is the Starbucks still open?” he questioned. “I’ll pay.” he added quickly and Grace waved him off.

“It’s fine, let’s get some hot chocolate.” she responded and the three went through the drive- through with Hazel being given her hot chocolate, and a warning.

“It’s hot, be careful.” Grace warned. Hazel nodded at this and sipped carefully, smiling at the taste of the drink. Grace turned on the radio to some quiet, semi-melancholy song that Hazel seemed to enjoy and turned to Simon. “Can you help me get something out of the trunk?” Grace asked and Simon agreed as the two exited the car and went around to the back. “I don’t actually need something from the trunk.” Grace began and Simon nodded.

“I know.” he said and the two climbed up, sitting on the trunk of the car so that they could talk without having to worry about Hazel overhearing something they didn’t want her to.

“So, this is crazy, but it’s probably one of the least crazy things that exists on the train so…” Grace trailed off as Simon said out loud what both were thinking.

“I don’t think Hazel has parents.” Simon said and Grace let out a deep sigh in response.

“Yeah, I have no idea how she ended up out here, sense that's the case, but you're probably right.” she said tiredly.

“You know, she has a number on her hand.” Simon said quietly. “I don’t think it glows or changes or anything, it’s like a tattoo.” he added as he stared at his own hands, where his number had once been. He looked at Grace and she listened as he spoke. “What are we going to do?” he questioned. Grace let out a long suffering sigh as she seemingly struggled to come up with an acceptable answer. Maybe there wasn’t one. She was deeply worried about Hazel, about what would happen to her. She was also worried about herself. Suddenly she turned to Simon and gave the first answer that popped into her head.

“Let’s just run away together!” she said breathlessly and Simon was so caught off guard he almost fell off of the car. He stared at her for a moment before giving a response.

“Are you serious right now?” he asked. Grace nodded vigorously.

“Yeah, I mean why not. Let’s just run away together, with Hazel, and start a new life.” she said as went over her plan. Simon laughed at this.

“So, there's a few issues with that, the first being I have approximately thirty four dollars and twenty seven cents in my bank account right now. The second being, we both have families that would definitely look for us. The third being we haven’t even graduated yet. And the final being the fact that we are in no way ready to take care of a kid.” he said listing off the holes in Grace’s plan. Grace looked at him seriously.

“First, I’m rich. Second, you can tell your parents, it’s not like we’re going off the grid. Third, we don’t have time to wait for graduation considering that someone needs to take care of Hazel now. And finally maybe not, but we are probably the only people in the world who have a chance of understanding Hazel.” she added. “I know we just found her but, she reminds me of both of us. I want her to turn out better then we did and that means having a better support system.” she added quietly. Simon let out another sigh.

“Do you honestly think this plan is going to work?” he asked and Grace opened her mouth to say something but closed it and reformulated her thoughts before trying again.

“No, but what are we supposed to do Simon? If Hazel really was made on the train there are no records of her or anything, we can’t go to any authorities about this and even if we could…” Grace turned around on the trunk to look through the back window. She saw Hazel still sipping her hot chocolate and listening to the radio. “If anyone found out about that other stuff she could be in real danger.” Grace added. Simon looked at the both of them, Grace and Hazel and knew that Grace was right. A deeply sad look appeared on Grace’s face and he rushed to correct it.

“Hey, we’ll figure this out.” he said, mirroring Grace’s words. “We’ll keep her safe, I promise.” He said as he took her hand. This calmed Grace down as she gave Simon a small smile.

“I love you.” she said happily. Simon smiled back.

“I love you too.” he responded. Simon moved in closer for a kiss but before their lips could meet behind them Hazel banged on the window causing both to jump.

“You promised no kissing!” she said seriously and Grace stifled a laugh as the two climbed back into the car with Grace apologizing for almost breaking the promise. As Grace started the car she turned to Simon and addressed something she’d just remembered.

“Hey, that video has Hazel coming off of the train right?” she asked. Simon nodded.

“Yeah.” he responded. Grace took a deep breath.

“Maybe we shouldn’t post that.” she began. “I know that it’s the culmination of all of our work and it proves everything we thought but then people might start looking into Hazel and that’s a whole can of worms.” she said. To her surprise Simon was seemingly ahead of her.

“Don’t worry, that video will never see that light of day.” he promised. Grace started the car and pulled out of the Starbucks parking lot onto the street, which was illuminated only by street lamps. “Where to next?” Simon asked and Grace could only smile and stare ahead.

“Only one way to find out.” she said as the three traversed on, the rest of the night laid out before them. As Grace drove off the problems that would arrive in the morning as the sun rose were small and far away, all that there was were the people in the car. Hazel, the girl who she’d felt an immediate connection to; and Simon, someone who’s life intertwined with her’s in only the strangest of ways. Grace couldn’t imagine a better night to be alive.


	14. Epilogue

In the end it had been a compromise. They hadn’t had that long until graduation and in the meantime they’d kept Hazel with somewhere safe. Grace could remember the month or so leading up to graduation so clearly, her and Simon running to check up on Hazel everyday and trying to discuss what they’d do after they were finished with school. But Grace’s plan had won out in the end if for nothing than for her insistence about it. She could remember how Simon had let out that long sigh and conceded that she was right about this.

Grace could remember her graduation too. Family members who she hadn’t seen in years, who no doubt gossiped about her behind her back rushing up to give her gifts. Each of them competing to see who’s gift could be the most impractical and expensive. Her parents had no clue about her skipping out on prom, so they were at least happy. And the rest of her relatives were so busy being locked in conversation about who had the best present that no one had noticed when she slipped out of her own party.

She’d gathered up the gifts from her family and loaded them into Simon’s truck and the two of them along with Hazel had sold them all. Grace figured she should have felt more bad about selling all of the things her relatives had given her on her graduation day, but she really didn’t. Not because she was a bad person, but because 24k earrings were more valuable to her future as cash. The earrings had been the last things they sold, the gift from her parents. They didn’t match any of her outfits, and they were way too flashy for her.

Of course, they hadn’t been about what made sense for her. Like all things, the earrings symbolised what her mother wanted to be true for her. It was that moment, selling the earrings alongside Simon and Hazel, where Grace’s memory of the rest of that year became fuzzy. She was lucky that Simon seemed to remember it all so clearly because the eight months that came after were a blur for her. Maybe it was just because so much had happened that she was unable to really process it. Whatever the reason it was all vague to her mind.

“What are you thinking about?” Simon asked and suddenly Grace was snapped back to her current reality. She realised that she’d been staring intensely into her cup of tea and shook herself subtly before addressing Simon.

“Nothing, just about how we got here.” she responded and Simon gave her that stupid smug smile he always did when he thought he was going to say something clever.

“Ah, and how far we’ve come indeed; you went from being a rich girl to falling in love with me, a lowly commoner.” he joked and Grace rolled her eyes.

“And you went from having no fashion sense to still having no fashion sense.” she responded back and Simon feigned being hurt. The interaction calmed Grace down from her previous thoughts about the incompleteness of her memories.This interaction was familiar, Simon was familiar. She thought about other things, like how long ago all of this had happened and that was clear. It had been five years ago that they’d met Hazel and decided to reshape their lives around her. They’d been kids then, they still were kids.

“You’re making that face that means you're upset again.” he said looking at her from across the table, the smugness on his face replaced with concern. Grace looked away and a sad smile crossed her face.

“Can you remind me again what happened that year?” she asked and Grace didn’t have to specify because Simon already knew what year she was talking about, they’d done this before. The worry on Simon’s face was replaced with relief as he realized this was what had upset her.

“We sold all of your graduation gifts, plus mine. We took the money and skipped town with Hazel and thanks mostly to the value of your gifts we bought this place in cash. I got a job, you got a job, and we sent Hazel to school.” he explained giving a condensed version of events. Grace nodded.

“Thank you.” she said honestly. If she had really wanted to she could have recalled that on her own. She didn’t have complete memories of those events but she remembered being told by Simon what happened before. Still, she liked to hear him tell it; it grounded her. She looked around their house and smiled because it was theirs’. Filled with little bits of Simon and Grace and Hazel, things that indicated all the love that existed within the walls. She squinted her eyes at a new poster which hung on the wall behind her. “Simon,” she said

“Yes,” Simon responded nervously.

“If I move that poster is it going to be covering up something that we’ll have to fix that you don’t want me to worry about?” she questioned and Simon gave his response.

“No, it won’t be.” he said seriously and Grace looked at him before getting up to look behind it anyway. Just as Simon had said the poster wasn’t being used to cover up anything and Grace did feel bad that she hadn’t taken him at his word. Turning back around to the table she began to apologize before she saw that Simon had gotten down on one knee.

“I know that this isn’t very fancy or elaborate but,” he began. “I am really in love with you Grace, and I know that there’s no question we’ll be together forever but I still want to make it official if that’s alright with you.” he said sincerely. Grace could feel herself tearing up and simply nodded as she wiped her eyes and willed herself not to burst into tears. Simon stood up and gifted her the ring, in response she gave him a kiss. It was just as intense as their first but with the depth and passion of all that had come after it. After the kiss was broken all Grace could do was chuckle.

“I love you.” she said smiling and Simon nodded, their foreheads pressed together as he held her in that kitchen. The two of them could have stayed like that forever so close and in love but as all things that moment had to end. “Let’s go pick up Hazel.” she said and Simon nodded as the two prepared to go pick up the girl from school. When things had first started their relationship to Hazel had been more like that of older cousins and neither was sure when it had shifted to that of parents, but it had.

Maybe it was the fact that people had often assumed they were her parents anyway. In Grace’s opinion she didn’t look anymore like them than any other brown skinned child but that had never seemed to matter to anyone. And as far as the school was concerned they were Hazel’s parents; though as far as the school was concerned they were also older than they truly were. Grace found that it was easy to get people to overlook things when money was involved, even institutions which were supposed to be free from corruption.

The two pulled up to the school and quickly spotted Hazel who ran to the car and climbed in. Looking at Hazel was always the thing that surprised Grace the most. She’d grown so much over the course of the five years since they’d met. She was taller now, and her hair was longer but most importantly to Grace, she was happy. The Hazel who she’d met five years ago was so young and had already gone through so much, but the Hazel who sat in her backseat wore a smile on her face and didn’t have a worry in the world.

“I had a good day at school today!” she said excitedly. “Lucy showed me how to make a rubber band bracelet.” she explained showing off the bracelet on her wrist. Grace smiled as she looked at the ring on her finger and gestured to Simon, a silent way of asking if he wanted to tell her. He apparently did as he quickly rushed out the information to the little girl.

“We’re getting married.” he said happily and looked at her. Grace could see Hazel’s reaction in the rearview mirror and that meant she could see the girl’s jaw practically hit the floor. She quickly began with a million questions a minute about preparation and outfits and venues and whatnot.

“You’re really excited about this huh?” Grace questioned and Hazel nodded vigorously.

“It’s your fault for making me watch all of those wedding shows with you, now I'm invested.” she responded before adding something else. “Are your parents coming? I want to meet them.” Hazel said happily. Grace’s grip on the steering wheel tightened but other than that her reaction was negligible. So much of that first year was missing but her mother’s reaction was something she could still remember vividly. She’d known when she left that her mother would track her down but she’d hoped that it would be later rather than sooner.

And her mother had gone off on her, told her that she was destroying that family, told her that she was the worst child imaginable. Every trick in the book had been used to try and guilt her but none had worked. Her mother hadn’t gotten access to her address thank god but she knew the general area and would pop up, waiting around to find Grace. And when that didn’t work she’d be hit with a flurry of texts and phone calls. Even when Simon convinced her to just block her mother’s number she would still get messages on any platform that she could find.

Grace chuckled thinking about how many nights she’d lost sleep being terrified that somehow her mother would make her come back, destroying the new life she had. Grace knew now that she couldn’t, that her mother was human and nothing more, but back then it was terrifying nonetheless. For years her mother had manipulated her and at the time it felt like she still could. That wasn’t the case at all anymore. For the first time maybe in her entire life Grace was one hundred percent sure her mother had no power over her.

“Did I say something wrong?” Hazel questioned at the change in Grace’s expression and she waved her off.

“No, you didn’t.” she responded honestly. “I don’t think they’ll be coming though, they aren’t very nice people.” she explained and Hazel nodded seemingly understanding this.

“My mom will be there.” Simon said changing the topic of conversation and Hazel lit up again.

“She makes really good cookies!” Hazel exclaimed and the two of them talked about that instead. As Grace pulled into the driveway of their home on that Friday afternoon there was a permanent smile on her face. She wished that she could speak to that scared little girl on the train, or that teenager who felt powerless against her parents and against her trauma. She wanted to tell herself that it got better, that she got better. But, because that wasn’t an ability she had Grace would settle instead for being thankful of how far she’d come everyday.

As they walked inside Grace caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror that was in the hallway. She could see her mother in herself, but she was so clearly Grace Monroe. Her white dress embroidered with pink flowers would have been far too gauche for her mother. And besides that, everything she was and everything she would be was in her face. She was older now, more mature. She had a child who she’d call her daughter and a fiancé who’d be her husband. But more than anything when she looked in the mirror Grace saw everything she had been. She had been Grace Monroe, Train Hunter and now she wasn’t. She was something better.


End file.
